The aircraft was scheduled to operate a flight from Frankfurt to Los Angeles. Passengers had not yet boarded. Only crew members and ground staff were on board when the aircraft’s nose dropped to the ground. The flight was later cancelled.
German airline, in a statement, said, “Several staff members were injured during an incident on the ground at Frankfurt Airport at 12:45 p.m. (1045 GMT) today. Passengers had not yet boarded, crew members and ground staff were on board the aircraft at the time of the incident. We are currently investigating the exact circumstances with the relevant authorities.”
Incident under probe
Video footage from the airport appeared to show the aircraft’s front wheels moving forward before the nose fell several metres. A ground crew member standing nearby was seen quickly moving away. The doors of the nose landing gear bay detached on impact.
Following a gear collapse at the gate in Frankfurt, Lufthansa 787-9 D-ABPQ has been significantly damaged. Today’s LH450 has been canceled. We are awaiting more information on any potential injuries. pic.twitter.com/FTBK4m2WyS
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 4, 2026
The aircraft is just over a year old, according to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24. It was delivered to Lufthansa in January and entered service in February. Since then, it has completed 137 flights.
Boeing said it is “aware of the incident” and is “supporting our customer.”
Jeff Guzzetti, a former US federal aviation crash investigator, said it is “very unusual” for a nose landing gear to collapse while an aircraft is stationary.
He cautioned that it was too early to determine the cause. Possible factors, he said, could include earlier damage to the landing gear, a mechanical failure or maintenance-related issues.
#Lufthansa-#Boeing sackt zu Boden: Mehrere Verletzte am #Flughafen #Frankfurt
Zwischenfall am Frankfurter Flughafen: Am Gebäude des Terminal 1 ist ein neuer Lufthansa-Flieger zu Boden gesackt. Mehrere Mitarbeiter wurden laut Airline verletzt.https://t.co/58kTc6ECKO pic.twitter.com/Ye6B54DEJt
— AfD Kartoffel ☦︎ Картофель (@AfDKartoffel) June 4, 2026
Guzzetti said investigators will examine the aircraft’s maintenance records and system data. They may also review flight data to assess how the landing gear performed during previous landings.
“They’re going to look at every square inch of that nose landing gear strut and the mechanisms that operate it,” he said.
Dreamliner scrutiny
A similar incident involving a Boeing 787 occurred at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2021. According to the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, a Boeing 787-8 undergoing maintenance experienced a nose landing gear retraction during testing, causing the aircraft’s nose to drop onto the pavement.
Investigators found that a locking pin intended to prevent retraction had been inserted in the wrong position, allowing the gear to fold despite safeguards designed to keep it extended.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner entered commercial service in 2011. The 787-9 involved in Thursday’s incident can carry up to 296 passengers, depending on its configuration.
The 787 programme has faced manufacturing and quality-control issues in recent years. In 2020, Boeing identified small gaps between carbon-composite fuselage panels, prompting inspections that also uncovered issues with a pressurisation bulkhead at the front of the aircraft.
In May 2021, Boeing paused 787 deliveries while US regulators reviewed documentation related to work carried out on new aircraft.
In June 2023, the company again delayed deliveries after identifying a “nonconforming condition” in fittings on the horizontal stabiliser. Boeing said at the time that the issue could affect near-term deliveries but did not pose a safety risk to aircraft already in service.
(With input from agencies)
