A Nippon Cargo Airlines Boeing 747-8 Freighter has been involved in a tail strike incident, whilst performing a go around at Tokyo Narita Airport.
The aircraft, registered JA13KZ, was performing flight KZ258 from Hong Kong when the aircraft encountered strong winds. The two crew members on board initiated a go around, however the tail struck runway for a short distance. During the second attempt, the aircraft touched down without further incident.
Upon investigation, a scrape 90cm wide and approximately 3m long, was discovered on the underside of the aft fuselage section.
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has dubbed the incident as serious, stating it could have lead to an accident. The Japan Transport Safety Board has dispatched investigators to analyse the aircraft and interview the crew in command.
According to Air Fleets, JA13KZ was first delivered to Nippon Cargo Airlines in August 2012. The aircraft previously flew with Boeing from February 2011.
Cover photo by Yoshifumi Fukuda, Narita Airport, February 1, 2021 at 11:05 pm
one can only speculate, based on the given information, but possibly a far worse outcome had they chose not to go around