Airliner Brushes Tail Against Runway on Takeoff; Remind Me to Fly Shorter Planes

An Emirates Airbus A340 carrying more than 225 people slammed its tail into the runway as it took off from an Australia airport, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, officials said Saturday. Interestingly, it seems that length of airplane makes incidents like this more likely.

The impact of the tail sent smoke into the cabin. Passengers were unhurt, but frightened by the impact, which occurred when the flight took off from the southern city of Melbourne at about 10:30 PM Friday, bound for Dubai.

The aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely after flying over the ocean and dumping fuel.

Passenger Catherine Edmunds said:

"We did land successfully, thankfully, and the plane was surrounded by paramedics and fire engines. It was terrifying. I'd hate to go through it again."

Thinking about the way a plane takes off, it is obvious that if it lifted its nose too steeply, such a brush against the runway is possible. One might think there could be only one explanation, however: pilot error.

But according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, several factors can come into account, including the above angle of takeoff, such as weather conditions and loading issues. The ATSB also made it sound like it wasn't that unusual.

"It is a hazard, particularly on the longer aircraft."

Remind me to choose shorter aircraft.