Tailstrikes during landing forced a British Airways Airbus A321neo arriving from Amsterdam to abort its initial approach at London Heathrow Airport after its tail twice contacted the runway.
The passengers of the British Airways aircraft escaped disaster, narrowly avoiding a crash landing.
Heavy Winds and Potential Cockpit Miscalculation Caused the Tailstrike
The aircraft, operating as flight BA431, experienced the rare double tailstrike on Thursday morning, November 12, 2026, as reported by watson. Heavy winds with a light northwest wind at roughly 16 kilometers per hour made the initial descent difficult, according to weather reports cited by watson. A source within The Sun suggested the botched landing stemmed from a cockpit miscalculation, as noted by watson.
Flight BA431 Landed Safely After an Aborted Touchdown
- Flight BA431 aborted its initial touchdown after striking the runway twice with its tail.
- The aircraft landed safely 14 minutes later on runway 27L, with all passengers exiting normally.
- British Airways grounded the airframe for technical checks while the AAIB investigates.
Following the double impact, the flight crew immediately executed a go-around maneuver. Planespotting channel Big Jet TV captured the incident live on stream, as detailed by 20 Minuten. Approximately 14 minutes after the aborted attempt, the aircraft lined up for a second approach and touched down securely on runway 27L, according to flight tracking data cited by Nau.
In the second attempt, the landing on runway 27L succeeded without any problems, as reported by aeroTELEGRAPH. All 220 passengers on the flight remained uninjured during the incident, and all travelers were able to leave the aircraft unhurt after landing, as written by the Bild-Zeitung and reported by Nau.
British Airways confirmed the safe landing to the aviation blog Paddle Your Own Kanoo but declined further comment due to legal considerations, as covered by 20 Minuten.
| Flight Detail | Recorded Metric |
|---|---|
| Route | Amsterdam to London Heathrow |
| Aircraft Type | Airbus A321neo |
| Passenger Count | 220 uninjured occupants |
| Divergent Attempt Time | 14 minutes prior to successful landing |
AAIB and British Airways Investigate the Aircraft Incident
British Airways pulled the affected airframe, which was built three years ago, out of active service for comprehensive technical assessments, Nau noted. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) launched a formal probe into the sequence of events.
British Airways itself also initiated an investigation into the incident, as reported by watson. Nau reported airline statements noting, “We support the authority in its investigations and cannot comment further at this time for legal reasons.”
Whether and to what extent the Airbus was damaged during the delicate landing attempt is not yet known, and technical controls will show whether returning the aircraft to service is possible, according to Nau.
Investigators reviewed whether the airframe sustained structural damage comparable to a separate incident involving an Austrian carrier’s Airbus that suffered a tailstrike at Heathrow on September 19, 2026. Depending on upcoming technical inspections, British Airways intends to return the aircraft to active flight operations as early as Saturday, Nau reported.
