Shocking video shows Canada-bound plane violently shake from tail strike

A harrowing video shows a Toronto-bound aircraft abort a takeoff after violently lurching from a tail strike during an attempted touchdown at Pearson International Airport.

The aircraft, an Air France Airbus A350-900 on flight AF-356 from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, took off at approximately 2:30 pm local time and was scheduled to arrive in Toronto at 4:45 pm (ET).

According to the Aviation Herald, the flight was preparing to land on Pearson Airport’s runway when the aircraft “bounced, increased the pitch, and contacted the runway surface with its tail before climbing out to safety.”

The aircraft reportedly positioned for another approach roughly 15 minutes later and landed without further incident at 5:02 pm.

Luckily, there were no reported injuries; however, the aircraft did sustain substantial damages. The returning flight to Paris, which was scheduled to take off around 6:55 pm from Toronto, was cancelled as a result.

While tail strikes are rarely dangerous, they can be relatively frightening for passengers onboard and affect future flights. These incidents occur when the aircraft’s tail strikes the runway (or another stationary object) during takeoff or landing.

Air France Airbus A350-800 (F-HTYH, built 2021) received substantial damage to its aft fuselage during a tailstrike landing on runway 24L. Flight #AF356 from Paris-CDG initiated a go-around and returned for a safe landing on the same runway about 15 minutes later. No one was… pic.twitter.com/hGOgv3fI6d

— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) January 22, 2024

The majority of tail strikes usually occur on landing and are most often the result of human error, although environmental factors, such as strong winds, can also increase the potential for these incidents, according to SKYbrary.

“The GTAA completed an immediate runway inspection following the incident, which determined there was no damage,” GTAA spokesperson Sean Davidson told blogTO.

“We are assisting the airline to gather further information and are also in contact with Transport Canada.”

The aircraft remains grounded in Toronto as of the time of publication.

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