A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK.
On Saturday, a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 flying from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) had a rather eventful arrival in Southern California when it came within inches of a tail strike during touchdown. The alarming incident was caught on camera by a planespotting livestream at the airport, and it forced the widebody quadjet to go around and land at LAX on the second attempt.
This delayed its arrival into the City of Angels, and its return flight back to Frankfurt also took off behind schedule. However, a quick transatlantic crossing ensured a timely arrival back in Germany the next day. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that this flight specifically has been involved in an eventful arrival at LAX, with previous Simple Flying coverage highlighting another bumpy landing.
An Eventful Arrival
Lufthansa flight LH456 is a daily service from Frankfurt to Los Angeles which, according to Flightradar24, is scheduled to leave at 10:40 AM and arrive at 1:10 PM, some 11 hours and 30 minutes later (all times are local). On October 10, despite leaving slightly late at 11:18 AM, the flight looked good for a fairly punctual arrival, initially touching down at 1:18 PM. However, things took a dramatic turn.
Indeed, as reported by The Mirror and captured on a planespotting livestream, the flight had to abort its landing and perform a go-around after pitching sharply upwards, with this maneuver seeing its tail come within inches of striking the surface of runway 24R. After climbing away from LAX and circling, it eventually touched down at 1:33 PM, 15 minutes later. A Lufthansa spokesperson told Simple Flying that:
"LH456 performed a go-around on October 10 while approaching Los Angeles and landed normally and safely on its second attempt. This is a standard procedure that has been well-rehearsed. Safety is always a top priority at Lufthansa."
The Return Flight Left Almost An Hour Late
The aircraft involved in this alarming incident was a Boeing 747-8 that bears the registration D-ABYK. According to ch-aviation, it is 13.22 years old, having first flown back in July of 2013. It was delivered to Lufthansa a month later, and currently has 244 economy, 32 premium economy, 80 business, and eight first class seats. Having landed safely at LAX on the second attempt, it was soon back in the air.
While it came very close to doing so, with its tail having not actually made contact with the surface of runway 24R at LAX, D-ABYK did not sustain any damage that might have otherwise needed Lufthansa to take it out of service for inspection and repairs. With that being said, its return leg back to Frankfurt, LH457, did take off almost an hour behind schedule, at 4:00 PM local time as opposed to 3:05 PM.
However, it was able to overcome this delay with a swift transatlantic crossing, and it ultimately touched back down in Frankfurt at 10:50 AM on Sunday, October 11, just ahead of its planned arrival at 11:00 AM local time. It did not operate any other flights on Sunday, with its next planned departure being LH402 to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on Monday, October 12. This will leave at 1:20 PM.
Not The First Eventful Arrival Involving LH456
As it happens, this is not the first time that a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 has experienced a rough landing in Los Angeles that has been caught on a planespotting livestream. Back in April of 2024, as reported by Simple Flying at the time, D-ABYP was involved in a similar incident, whereby the jet touched down extremely hard while being flown by a training pilot, bottoming out the landing gear as it bounced.
This rough landing kicked up a large amount of tire smoke, with the aircraft then bouncing for a second time before going around. The YouTuber streaming the 747's arrival described its heavy touchdown as "the roughest landing we have ever caught on our broadcast." In a statement at the time, Lufthansa confirmed that "an assessment by the cockpit crew" was required before the jet returned to Frankfurt.