It’s not unusual to see aircraft do low passes, whereby they fly at a low altitude above the ground, especially for things like air shows. Well, a newly converted freighter Boeing 777 that’s about to be delivered to Qatar Airways just did a wild low pass, which nearly ended in disaster. Something tells me that the pilot who did this will be in some major trouble…
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Future Qatar Airways 777 freighter performs dangerous low pass
There’s a video that’s getting quite a bit of attention online, which was filmed on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, showing a Boeing 777-200LR doing a low pass at Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center. The plane in question has the registration code N705DN. It’s a 17-year-old former Delta 777, which the airline retired in early 2020, when it decided to get rid of that entire fleet type. Now the plane has undergone a passenger to freighter conversion, and it will soon fly for Qatar Airways Cargo.
The plane was flying from Grissom Aeroplex in Gus, Indiana (GUS), to Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas (AFW), with a total flight time of just under around three hours.
As you can see above, the plane didn’t take the most direct routing, and made a detour to fly over Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center, Texas (DZB).
Why would they do that? Well, this conversion was done in partnership with Jetran, an aircraft leasing, sales, and aviation services company. Since the company is based in Horseshoe Bay, I’d imagine the intention was for the plane to make a visit to the airport prior to being delivered.
As you’d expect when there’s a low pass (there’s a clue in the name), the plane traveled at a very low altitude over the runway, with the landing gear retracted. That’s not unusual as such, but two things stand out. First, the plane reached an especially low altitude. Next, the pilot then made a right turn without having sufficient altitude, to the point that the wing was just feet off of the ground.
Take a look at just how close the right wing got to the ground around 13 seconds into the video. We’re talking a matter of feet — this was so close to being a catastrophic disaster. Even worse is that there’s a community right next to the airport, so this could’ve impacted a lot of people.
Obviously pilots are typically well trained and have procedures they’re supposed to follow, but these kinds of low passes are still a very manual procedure. Over the years, we’ve seen some low passes end in tragedy, with accidents. It happens way more than it should, to the point that one wonders why these kinds of procedures are still allowed.
All it would’ve taken is a tiny gust of wind or something of the sorts, and this would’ve been an epic disaster.
A lot of parties are going to be really unhappy about this
One certainly wonders how planned out this maneuver was, or if it was something they just decided on at the last minute. Like, did they have a detailed briefing about how exactly this low pass would go down, and if so, was this the plan all along. I’m sure the pilot in command of this aircraft would take on the “cool guy” persona, and claim he had it all under control. However, most experienced pilots look at this and immediately see how reckless it was.
I’m not sure who the pilot was who was in charge of this aircraft, but I imagine that Qatar Airways, among other parties, will be very unhappy about this. For that matter, it seems that this is something that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should investigate, because obviously this posed a risk to others as well.
Bottom line
A recently converted cargo Boeing 777 performed a dangerous low pass at Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center, in Texas. The plane was enroute from Gus to Fort Worth, and presumably made a low pass due to one of the companies involved in the conversion being based there.
While low passes are always a sight to behold, this was simply too close for comfort, and the right wing ended up just feet from striking the ground. Everyone involved should count their lucky stars that this didn’t end differently.
What do you make of this cargo 777 low pass?
It looks planned (to some extent). There's a low flying helicopter in the background (probably filming) and people on the ground seemed to know it was coming.
I typically expect headlines and "must watch" to be hyperbole, but wow, that was extremely low and very lucky the wing didn't clip. The pilot must be submitting his application to the Blue Angels.