Aircraft tail hits runway during takeoff from Madrid

The tail of a Boeing 767 carrying 250 passengers struck the runway whilst taking off from Madrid’s Barajas airport heading for Mexico City yesterday. Two crew members suffered bruising as a result of the impact.

The impact of the tail of the Aeromexico plane hitting the ground caused fragments to be left on the runway, which an Air Europa Airbus, en route to Caracas with 196 people on board, ran over, puncturing a tyre.

Both aircraft had to circle to burn fuel for around 90 minutes each, before returning to Barajas airport,where both landed safely. 

Emergency services accompanied both planes upon landing, as part of the established protocol for such incidents, and passengers were removed from the aircraft to be found alternative travel arrangements.

This is the latest in a series of incidents of aircraft striking the runway on takeoff, with two separate incidents in recent weeks involving Ryan air planes, one on a Malta to London flight, another on a Krakow to Dublin flight, and a serious tail strike on landing for a US Airways flight at Las Vegas.