'Mortal Fear': Passenger Describes Panic Aboard Boeing That Ran Off the Runway in Munich

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft taking off from Munich Airport veered off the runway during its takeoff roll and only became airborne after crossing onto the grass alongside it. The incident occurred on 15 August, and all 271 passengers and 16 crew members survived without physical injuries, though many were left deeply shaken.

"We thought our final hour had come," a passenger who wished to remain anonymous told the newspaper Merkur. According to her, before the emergency landing, passengers were ordered to remove their shoes and assume the brace position — arms folded over the head with the body bent forward — as instructed in case of a hard impact upon landing.

The woman described the atmosphere on board as "mortal fear." After takeoff, during which the plane kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground, it circled over Upper Bavaria for nearly two hours to burn off fuel before landing. Some passengers filmed the ordeal on their phones.

Burst tyres and smoke from the landing gear

The emergency landing itself was largely successful, but the aircraft's tyres burst, scattering debris across the area around the runway. Thick smoke was seen coming from the left landing gear.

After landing, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was towed by tractor into a hangar. The runway it had taken off from was temporarily closed, as technicians needed to repair a damaged section of its edge. Marks left by the landing gear confirmed that the plane had lifted off while already on the grass, beyond the paved surface.

Restoring the runway and surrounding area to normal took until late into the night, causing delays to a number of other flights.

Investigators searching for a cause

The incident, which could theoretically have turned into a disaster claiming hundreds of lives, is now being investigated by Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation. Investigators are trying to determine why the aircraft needed almost the entire four-kilometre runway to take off.

A former Vietnam Airlines pilot, speaking to the newspaper Bild on condition of anonymity, suggested the cause may have been an error in calculating the initial engine thrust. According to his theory, the crew may have entered an incorrect aircraft weight into the system, causing the onboard computer to "believe" the plane was lighter than it actually was — and to set insufficient thrust for takeoff.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz