Vietnam Airlines incident in Munich: brakes applied during take-off

According to an investigation, the brakes were applied during takeoff in the near-miss of a Vietnam Airlines plane in Munich. This emerges from an interim report from the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig. The Boeing 787-9, which was carrying almost 290 people, overshot the runway at Munich Airport in mid-August and was just able to take off. No people were injured in the incident.

According to the investigation, it is still unclear why the flight captain applied the brakes during takeoff. The interim report is purely a statement of facts, explained the BFU spokesman. An assessment and analysis of the cause of the accident will only be available in the final report, which is expected to be available around a year after the accident. The “Spiegel” had previously reported on the BFU’s interim status.

According to the BFU report, the aircraft was cleared to take off on August 15 at 1:55 p.m. Shortly afterwards, the start run was activated - and seconds later the brake pedals were pressed and held permanently. Shortly before takeoff, the copilot manually increased the engine thrust.

According to the BFU, the result was that the aircraft overshot the runway, landed on the grass behind it and was able to take off at the last moment. The tail and landing gear collided with 20 lamps from the lighting system on the runway. The fuselage of the aircraft was also damaged. After landing, damage was also found on four tires.

According to the report, the pilots decided to abort the flight to Vietnam. In consultation with air traffic control, the pilot dumped fuel and flew past the airport twice with the main landing gear extended so that ground personnel could carry out a visual inspection. Then the landing took place. According to the BFU, there was smoke development on the main landing gear, but no fire could be identified.