On 21 January 2024, an Air France Airbus A350 suffered a tail strike during a go-around in Toronto. The A350 received substantial damage to its aft fuselage as a result of the impact.
The Airbus A350-900, with registration F-HTYH was operating flight AF356 from Paris CDG to Toronto. However, while landing on Toronto’s runway 24L the aircraft bounced on touch down and contacted the runway surface with its tail.
Following the tail strike, the crew initiated a go-around and returned for a safe landing on the same runway about 15 minutes later. Flight AF356 subsequently landed on its second attempt without any further incident.
Footage shared by one of the plane spotters shows the exact moment of the tail strike. Sparks can be seen coming from the tail assembly area.
During the tail strike, the A350’s tail assembly subsequently made contact with the runway surface. There were no injuries, however, the aircraft sustained substantial damage as a result of the impact.
Moreover, one of the passengers has shared a video from inside the cabin, where you can hear the tail strike.
Following the incident, the return flight to Paris was canceled, given the damage to the aircraft.
Feature Image via Twitter (@airplusnews)
An unfortunate event during a high stress/workload situation. Mistakes happen. They landed safely with no injuries and that’s what matters most.
Yeah, you know, Social media really sucks The video doesn’t help anybody But create more paranoia about flying. No one knows what happened.It could’ve been a weather incident could have been wind. Not necessarily pilot error. But people out there wanna comment Who know nothing about Aviation or flying an airplane Much less one as complex as the A350 and bash comment about the airline. Air France has some of the best pilots in the business and I mean “Best”@!! I Ought to know, I’m an Airline Maintenance Inspector for American Airlines Hi, I’ve seen the pilot for Air France and how they are With their airplanes. So when you go viewing this video. Think twice about making a comment!!