The Incident
If you were at LAX on Saturday, you might have seen a massive Lufthansa Boeing 747 pull a move that looked like a total disaster. The jet, which was flying in from Frankfurt, Germany, was trying to stick the landing on Runway 24R when things went sideways.
The Maneuver
Caught on camera by the folks at Airline Videos Live, the plane touched down way further along the tarmac than it was supposed to. Instead of trying to force it, the pilots made the smart call to "go-around," which is basically aviation speak for aborting the landing and climbing back into the air.
As the pilots pulled the nose up to climb, the tail dipped dangerously low toward the runway. It looked like it missed the concrete by mere inches. It was giving major "too close for comfort" vibes, but it looks like the plane managed to avoid an actual tail strike. The jet successfully climbed away to circle back for another attempt.
Why it matters
Go-arounds are actually a standard safety procedure used when a landing looks a bit off, so the pilots were just doing their jobs to keep everyone safe. With only about 50 of these massive 747s left in service globally, seeing one in action is rare—but seeing one almost scrape the runway is the real tea. No injuries or damage were reported, so you can breathe a sigh of relief.
