THIS is the heart-stopping moment a Boeing 747 was caught on camera bouncing along the runway in another huge safety blunder.
The Lufthansa Airlines plane was seen dramatically smashing into the ground twice in Los Angeles Airport (LAX) before the pilot gave up and aborted the rough landing.
The moment the Boeing 747 touches down for the first failed landing and sends smoke billowing into the airCredit: Airline Videos Live
11The jumbo jet came into land at LAX on Tuesday before failing twiceCredit: Airline Videos Live
The pilot aborted the landing after the duo of mishaps and flew back off into the airCredit: Airline Videos Live
Scary livestream footage shows Boeing’s biggest jumbo jet, the 747-8i, swooping down towards the runway on Tuesday ready to land before disaster strikes.
The reason for the pair of botched attempts is still unclear.
Footage shows that the moment the back wheels scrape the ground as a giant white cloud of smoke flies off into the sky.
Before the jet is sent soaring upwards, returning to the air for a few seconds.
The second attempt to land ends with a similar dismal result despite both sets of wheels touching down this time.
That is the roughest landing I think we’ve ever caught on our broadcast
Kevin RayAirline Videos Live
Once again it bounces into the ground and jerks upwards in an ugly fashion.
The pilot eventually aborted the landing after the second major mishap and flew off back into the air.
The chilling footage was captured by regular plane enthusiasts Airline Videos Live and put onto their website.
The groups owner Kevin Ray can be heard commentating over the clip as it happens shouting out: “Holy Moly!
“That is the roughest landing I think we’ve ever caught on our broadcast.”
Ray went on to say he could smell burning from the rubber wheels as it screeched on the hard runway.
The nine-year-old plane did manage to successfully land after a short time of circling the airport leaving many baffled by what caused the mistakes.
An official Lufthansa spokesperson told The Sun: “There were 326 passengers and 19 crew members on board the Boeing 747-8 training flight.
“Following an assessment by the cockpit crew, a consultation with the technical department on site and in Frankfurt and an initial visual inspection, the aircraft flew back to Frankfurt.
“There it will undergo an additional inspection.”
They added the flight had a “rough landing” but ensured no one was injured.
The Sun has contacted Boeing for comment.
WHISTLEBLOWER SPEAKS
The failed landing is just the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Boeing as investigations continue into the company.
Brave whistleblower Sam Salehpour described how he witnessed workers jumping on plane parts to force them to fit on “defected” aircraft.
He went on to say he was told to “shut up” and threatened by Boeing bosses after constantly raising serious safety concerns over how the planes were being assembled.
Salehpour took part in the bombshell back-to-back US Congress hearings this week as he testified against his employers.
The engineer worked at Boeing for a decade and claims he tried to warn them of his concerns over much of that time period.
Boeing has come under fire for their safety regulations after several major incidents such as the 2013 Lion Air Boeing 737 horror crash have been seenCredit: AFP
Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour has told US Congress how he witnessed workers stomping on plane parts to force them to fitCredit: Splash
A wheel fell off a Boeing 737 FlySafair FA212 in South Africa earlier in AprilCredit: Newsflash
At the Congress hearing Salehpour said: “I’m not here today because I want to be here.
“I am here because I feel I must come forward because I do not want to see a 787 or another 777 crash.
“I was ignored, told not to create delays, told, frankly, to shut up…
“My boss said, ‘I would have 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed someone who said what you said,’ during a meeting.”
His biggest issues were with how the 787 jets were being assembled over the past three years.
In one of the shocking claims he said: “I literally saw people jumping on pieces of the airplane to get them to align.
“I repeatedly produced reports for my supervisor and Boeing management that the gaps on the 787 were not being properly measured or shimmed into two major joints of the 787.”
Salehpour found that across 29 planes, major gaps were reported but not addressed a staggering 98.7 per cent of the time.
In a further 80 per cent of cases, the unclosed gaps ended up being filled with debris, he told Congress.
I’m scared but I’m at peace. If something happens to me, I’m at peace. I feel like by coming forward I’m saving a lot of lives
Sam SalehpourBoeing Whistleblower
Salehpour said his complaints were all ignored and he was made to move from project to project due to his damning reports.
He even made allegations saying he was sent death threats for his criticisms.
“I’m scared but I’m at peace. If something happens to me, I’m at peace,” he said.
“I feel like by coming forward I’m saving a lot of lives.”
Another former Boeing employee turned whistleblower John Barnett, 62, gave evidence against the company just days before he died from a “self-inflicted” wound.
He had been providing evidence of alleged wrongdoing at Boeing to investigators working on a lawsuit against the company at the time of his death, according to the BBC.
In 2019, he told reporters he had seen workers purposely fitting sub-standard parts onto aircraft on the production line.
Barnett claimed that defective parts were mishandled and sometimes lost or refitted to planes from the company scrapyard to meet production timelines.
He also alleged that he had discovered major issues in some of the planes’ oxygen systems which could lead to one in four masks not functioning properly.
He also says his complaints were ignored.
BOEING’S RESPONSE
Boeing has always maintained their 787 and 777 jets are safe to fly.
Engineers on Monday, 15, rejected the claims by Salehpour, saying the metal surfaces on the planes don’t fatigue.
According to Boeing, 165,000 flights were looked at with no signs of fatigue being recorded on any of them.
A spokesperson for Boeing previously told The Sun: “Since 2020, Boeing has taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to raise their voice.
“We know we have more work to do and we are taking action across our company.
“We continue to put safety and quality above all else and share information transparently with our regulator, customers and other stakeholders.”
FATAL AIR CALAMITIES
Boeing has also been involved in some horrific and fatal ordeals in the past decade.
On March 10, 2019, 157 passengers were 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed after taking off from an Addis Abeba airport.
Nine British passengers died on the flight, two more than initially expected.
It was the second incident in less than six months following a new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 flight over the Java Sea in October 2018.
Tragically, 189 people died in Indonesia just moments after the pilot reported “technical difficulties”.
According to the firm’s CEO, the jet was repaired the night before.
And in 2018, a woman was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed when a piece of engine housing ripped off a Southwest Airlines 737 and destroyed the window adjacent to her seat.
Seven others were injured.
Boeing continues to be put under pressure for a number of “defective” aircraft after hundreds of deaths, crashes and calamities have been linked back to the company.
Boeing has been sued by shareholders claiming that the company prioritised profit over safety, according to Reuters.
In February, the FAA concluded that Boeing had “a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all levels.”
It comes as shocking footage shows the moment a wheel fell off a Boeing 777 flying over California, grounding the flight intended for Japan.
Pictures show cars smashed up on the ground as the wheel collided with parked up motors.
Terrifying video also captured the moment a Boeing 737’s engine cover ripped off mid-air earlier this month.
A pilot was even forced to turn his plane around after poo flowed out into the cabin of a Boeing 777 due to a defective toilet.
The wreckage of a crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight that came plummeting down in 2019 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing 157 people
Salehpour is one of several people making claims against Boeing over a lack of concerns over safety on ‘defected’ aircraft
Another Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died just days after giving evidence against his former employer
The tyre of a United Airlines jetliner can be seen falling from the Boeing aircraft mid-flight
The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was forced to make an emergency landing when the door flew off