Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Experiences Runway Overrun at Munich Airport

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 suffered a runway overrun during takeoff at Munich Airport on August 15. The flight was bound for Hanoi with 271 passengers and crew members.

The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) released a preliminary report, which found that the left brake pedal was activated shortly after acceleration began during the high-speed takeoff roll. This resulted in airspeed stagnation, with the indicated airspeed stalling around 168 knots for approximately 18 seconds.

The crew initiated rotation at 163 knots, 12 knots below the planned rotation speed of 175 knots, as the aircraft ran out of paved runway. The plane then lifted off from the grass past the runway end and collided with approach lighting infrastructure, suffering tailstrike damage and impacting 20 runway end and approach lights.

The crew jettisoned 62 metric tons of fuel and performed two low-pass approaches for ground-based visual damage inspections before landing safely on their third attempt. The BFU has seized electro-hydraulic brake components to determine whether the braking inputs resulted from mechanical or software failure, or unintentional pilot pedal contact.