Passengers Scream as Packed Plane Makes Terrifying Landing
“No one knew what was happening,” a source said.

NurPhoto/Getty Images
Terrified passengers screamed aboard a packed British Airways flight as the jet’s tail slammed into the runway twice during a botched landing attempt in London, forcing pilots to abort the touchdown at the last second. The scare unfolded Thursday morning when Flight BA431, an Airbus A321neo carrying up to 220 people from Amsterdam, touched down unevenly on its left tires at Heathrow Airport around 11 a.m. local time. As the two-year-old jet’s tail struck the runway, passengers lurched forward in their seats before the crew yanked the plane back into the sky. “This is most irregular. There were screams. No one knew what was happening,” a source told The Sun, adding that early findings point to a “misjudgment” in the cockpit despite high winds. “This near-crash is very rare.” Plane-spotters captured the dramatic aborted landing on video. The aircraft safely touched down on its second attempt following the one-hour and 35-minute flight and was pulled from service for engineering checks. “The aircraft landed safely and we’re assisting the AAIB with its investigation and are legally unable to comment further at this stage,” a British Airways spokesperson told The Sun.
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