Preliminary report: Technical problem at Vietnam Airlines take-off in Munich

After the near-miss at Munich Airport, a preliminary investigation report from Vietnam's aviation authority suggests a technical problem on the Vietnam Airlines plane right from the start.

The crew had already noticed problems with the Boeing 787-9 when accelerating on the runway, the report said, citing the pilots of the flight: About halfway down the runway, the machine did not increase speed for around two seconds. The machine then initially accelerated to the critically required speed, but then the speed dropped.

Since there was no longer enough distance on the runway to safely abort the take-off, the pilot continued the take-off process, the aviation authority's report from Tuesday continued. The pilot brought the engine thrust levers to maximum position and pulled the nose of the aircraft up.

After the just successful take-off, the plane issued warning messages that the tail had hit the runway - a so-called tailstrike - and that four of the eight tires were losing air. During an initial inspection later, it was discovered that the tires - three on the left side of the chassis and one on the right - had burst. The crew then informed air traffic control and decided to return to Munich for a technical inspection.

Before landing, the plane dumped fuel to make the plane light enough for a safe landing. The pilot also had the plane make two low-altitude loops over the airport so that air traffic control could assess the condition of the landing gear. After no abnormalities were found with it, the pilot landed the plane, the report said.

Footage on social media showed how the Boeing of flight VN34 overshot the runway during takeoff on Saturday and took off, leaving a cloud of dust behind it. When the plane landed around two hours later, smoke could be seen rising from the landing gear. According to the Vietnamese authorities' preliminary report, there was no fire or smoke on the plane carrying 271 passengers and 16 crew members. Nobody was injured.