A Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft suffered a tail strike while departing from Tokyo, Japan, to Vancouver, Canada, but continued the flight and reached the destination around 8 hours after the incident.
The incident occurred when a Cargojet Airways Boeing 767-300 freighter was preparing for a takeoff for flight W8-1328 from Narita International Airport (NRT), Japan, to Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Canada, on August 29, 2021.When the cargo aircraft, registered as C-GUAJ, was rotating for takeoff, its aft part of fuselage hit the surface of the NRT airport runway.
The flight crew decided to continue climbing despite the incident. The data from Flightradar24.com suggests that the aircraft took off at 11.34 a.m. (UTC) and after more than eight hours of journey, safely landed at YVR airport at 3.45 a.m. (UTC).
Shortly after the Boeing 767 freighter takeoff, the air traffic control noticed smoke emitting at runway 16R and the runway was immediately closed for inspection, Narita Airport spokesperson told the local media. Inspectors found a 31 meters long, 15 centimeters wide, and 2 centimeters deep rubbing mark, indicating that the tail of the aircraft had indeed contacted the runway surface. One of the runways lights, which mark a centerline, was also found damaged.
Meanwhile, the freighter did not suffer significant damages and operated another flight from Vancouver to Chicago, the United States on the same day.
Earlier on August 6, 2021, another Cargojet Airways Boeing 767-300 cargo plane suffered an incident. The flight crew of C-GCIJ reported a hydraulic leak while on a flight from London Heathrow, the UK, to Hamilton, Canada, according to Aviation Herald.