Lufthansa 747-8 narrowly avoids tail strike during aborted LAX landing

Flight LH 456, a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 that left Frankfurt around 11 am local time, approached Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday. During the descent the plane’s tail came within inches of the runway surface, prompting the crew to abort the landing and execute a go-around. The aircraft then climbed back into the sky and landed later, roughly 30 minutes later than scheduled.

A go-around is a routine maneuver used when pilots decide a landing is unsafe or are instructed by air traffic control to try again. Lufthansa has not provided a statement on the near-miss. The incident follows the airline’s recent decision to suspend service to Riyadh through mid-October due to developments in the Middle East.