A LATAM Airlines Boeing 777-300ER experienced a tail strike incident at Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) on July 9. The aircraft, registered as PT-MUG, was operating flight LA8073 from MXP to Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) when it scraped its tail on the runway during takeoff.
Video footage of the incident, shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), shows the aircraft's tail scraping the runway with a plume of white smoke trailing behind before it eventually lifted off. The plane reached an altitude of 5,900 feet (1,798 meters) before it began dumping fuel and returned to MXP for an emergency landing at 12:37 local time.
The aircraft taxied to the gate without further incident. According to ch-aviation data, the plane was undergoing repairs at MXP with no subsequent scheduled flights after July 9. The Boeing 777-300ER was delivered to LATAM Airlines on October 23, 2012, and has accumulated 41,578 flight hours and 4,828 flight cycles since its first flight on October 4, 2012.