British Airways planes on Flight BA431 from Amsterdam appeared to strike their tail on the runway twice while attempting to land at Heathrow Airport on Thursday. The pilots aborted the landing, carried out a go-around, and brought the aircraft in again.
The plane landed safely on its second attempt, according to British Airways. A spokesperson said, "The aircraft landed safely and we're assisting the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) with its investigation and are legally unable to comment further at this stage."
BA431 and Heathrow Airport
Flight BA431 had started from Amsterdam before the landing attempt at Heathrow Airport. For passengers, the immediate change was the aborted approach and the second landing attempt, not a diversion or a cancellation.
The go-around is the key procedural step in the sequence. It means the pilots stopped the landing attempt and climbed away to try again, which is what happened before the aircraft touched down safely on the second try.
British Airways and the AAIB
British Airways said it was assisting the Air Accidents Investigation Branch with its investigation. That places the incident into a formal review process while the airline said it was legally unable to comment further at this stage.
The unresolved point is straightforward: the source does not say whether the aircraft suffered damage or what caused the tail strike. Until the investigation answers those questions, the only clear operational fact is that the flight ended safely after two landing attempts at Heathrow Airport.
For passengers on BA431, the practical outcome is that the flight completed its journey after the crew rejected the first landing and recovered the aircraft to land on the second attempt.
