Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 Suffers Botched Takeoff In Munich: Runway Overrun, Tail Strike, Shredded Tires

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 had an accident today while taking off on a long haul flight from Germany to Vietnam. Fortunately no one appears to have been injured, but I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how something like this could happen… Vietnam Airlines 787 struggles to take off on very long runwayWhat could possibly explain this messed up takeoff?Bottom line Vietnam Airlines 787 struggles to take off on very long runway This incident happened today (Saturday, August 15, 2026), and involves Vietnam Airlines flight VN34, scheduled to fly from Munich (MUC) to Hanoi (HAN). The flight was operated by a 10-year-old Boeing 787-9 with the registration code VN-A867. At 1:57PM local time, the plane started its takeoff roll on runway 26L, which is 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) long. This is about as long as commercial runways get, so it’s way longer than what even a fully loaded Dreamliner would need. However, something went seriously wrong with this takeoff. The plane accelerated down the runway… and kept accelerating, and accelerating, and accelerating. Eventually the plane seemingly overran the end of the runway, causing damage to runway lights. In the video you can see that huge clouds of dust rose around the aircraft, as the tail struck the ground. Fortunately the plane did manage to become airborne, though the crew immediately declared an emergency. The plane climbed up to 10,000 feet, and at that point the crew reported that they had an indicator that they had an issue with tire pressure. The plane circled around the area for around 90 minutes (either to burn or dump fuel), at which point the aircraft performed two low approaches over the runway, so damage could be assessed. Then the plane landed on runway 26R on the third approach, and it became disabled on the runway, closing the runway for an extended period of time. That landing was at 3:57PM, two hours after the plane first took off. The path for Vietnam Airlines flight VN34 Below is the takeoff video. Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reportedly overruns the runway during take-off from Munich. The aircraft is currently on approach to the airport after holding.Video: MunichAviation pic.twitter.com/qqbWSV2jrN— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) August 15, 2026 Then below is the landing video. Below are pictures showing the tire damage and tail strike after the plane returned to Munich. Tail strike on VN-A867 + possible ELECTRIC BRAKE ACTUATOR ISSUES On Both MAIN GEAR. Vietnam Airlines 787-9 out of Munich today… very late rotation, almost full runway used, confirmed tail strike, then returned with multiple tires shredded. Electric Brake Actuator (EBA)… pic.twitter.com/d2t2mD52T5— Fahad Naim (@Fahadnaimb) August 15, 2026 Confirmed tail strike damage on VN-A867The whole tail strike module is gone. There’s a clear puncture through the lower fuselage, with torn composite and heavy scrape marks running aft. This was not light contact… they must have been pulling hard to get it airborne.This jet… pic.twitter.com/WNBqFvzMzf— Fahad Naim (@Fahadnaimb) August 15, 2026 I think it’s safe to assume that this plane will be on the ground for quite some time, and isn’t going anywhere any time soon… What could possibly explain this messed up takeoff? Looking at the video of the takeoff, there’s nothing that stands out to me as being particularly unusual. It looks like the plane is accelerating decently, the flaps are in use, etc. But the plane just keeps going and going. I tried to pull up the flight data through Flightradar24, which typically shows you the altitude and speed for a plane, but oddly there’s a roughly five minute gap around the takeoff time. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to interpret that. Flightradar24 data on this Vietnam Airlines flight Either way, it’s hard to comprehend what happened here. If the pilots felt something was off during the takeoff roll, they’d logically abort the takeoff. And a 13,000+ foot runway is particularly long, so they should’ve had a major buffer here. Typically when we see incidents like this, it’s because the takeoff performance for the plane wasn’t calculated correctly (that’s not to say that’s the cause here, but I’m just saying that’s the most common explanation for this kind of an incident). Did the crew not have the right “numbers” for this flight when determining takeoff performance? That mistake can happen sometimes, but typically pilots would catch the error, because something looks off. I mean, this was a long haul 787 flight, so pilots roughly know what kind of takeoff performance they should be expecting. Was there some technical or other glitch that prevented the plane from taking of when it was supposed to, or what? We’ll have to wait for a full investigation, but everything about this incident is very strange. Bottom line A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 had a seriously messed up takeoff from Munich, as the plane overran the runway on takeoff, causing it to damage runway lights, strike its tail, and cause huge clouds of dust to rise. When the plane came back to land, it also had serious issues with its wheels, and the full damage of the tail strike was discovered. Particularly given how long Munich Airport’s runway is, there’s nothing about this that looks good… I’m curious to see what an investigation reveals. On the plus side, thank goodness no one was hurt, because it seems like this could’ve also had a much worse ending. What do you make of this Vietnam Airlines runway overrun in Munich?