Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 Sustains Heavy Damage in Munich Takeoff Incident

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 experienced severe damage after taking off from Munich Airport (MUC) on flight VN34. The plane was bound for Hanoi but rotated extremely late, causing the rear fuselage to strike the runway surface.

According to flight radar data and video footage, the aircraft utilized the full length of the 4,000-meter paved surface before rotating. This led to a massive plume of dust being kicked up beyond the threshold.

The crew subsequently ceased their climb, entered a holding pattern to dump fuel, and climbed to FL100 while evaluating onboard gear warnings. They then returned to Munich, executing two low-altitude passes over runway 26R to assess the structural condition of the landing gear.

At 13:57 UTC, the plane landed safely on runway 26R but shredded multiple tires on the left main landing gear assembly, rendering it immobilized on taxiway A6. An investigation is ongoing, with inspectors examining weight and balance calculations, performance settings, and flight data recorders to pinpoint the cause of the delayed rotation.