Video footage has emerged online showing the moment a Boeing 747 carrying more than 300 people on board bounced on the runway while attempting to land at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Tuesday.
The plane then appeared to bounce slightly before quickly taking off again, circling back, and landing safely.
Flight tracking data shows that Lufthansa Boeing 747-8, flight number LH 456, departing from Frankfurt International Airport in Germany, was scheduled to land at around 1 p.m. ET at LAX on Tuesday, after a flight lasting more than 11 hours.
A Lufthansa Group spokesperson confirmed to USA Today that flight LH 456 from Frankfurt to Los Angeles had a “rough landing” while attempting to touch down at the airport on Tuesday.
However, the spokesperson stressed that none of the 326 passengers and 19 crew members on board the flight reported any injuries.
The spokesperson added that the aircraft later flew back to Frankfurt following “an assessment by the cockpit crew, a consultation with the technical department on-site and in Frankfurt, and an initial visual inspection,” where it will undergo further inspection.
They did not state whether or not the plane was carrying passengers or was empty when it returned to Germany.
Boeing Under Renewed Scrutiny
Tuesday’s incident comes as Boeing has faced intense scrutiny in recent months after a two-by-four-foot panel blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX during a flight from Portland International Airport to California, leaving a gaping hole in the plane and causing a rapid loss of cabin pressure.The incident in January—which did not result in any injuries but prompted an emergency landing—led to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounding all Boeing 737-9 MAX planes worldwide.
FAA officials also ordered the planemaker to halt any further production of the aircraft in order to improve quality control at the company.
The incident is currently being investigated by the Justice Department.
“We’re not to going let them (increase production) until they have satisfied to the FAA that they can do it safely,” Mr. Buttigieg told reporters at Reagan National Airport outside Washington.
However, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, speaking during an earnings call on Wednesday, stressed that 90 days isn’t like waving a magic flag.
“The FAA wants a plan in 90 days that, in essence, monitors and measures whether our production system is in control moving forward,” Mr. Calhoun said, adding that “90 days isn’t like a [sic] wave a magic flag, and everything is great, and you guys can go from 38 to 40.”
“We completed our 30-day review and we’re regularly checking in with the FAA as we complete our 90-day plan,” he concluded.
January’s incident is one of many that have plagued Boeing in recent years, including two crashes: one in Indonesia in 2018 and one in Ethiopia in 2019, both of which killed 346 people.
