A Kalitta Air Boeing 777 suffered an incredibly strange tail strike during a recent landing attempt in Cincinnati, only to then miss its next approach after going around. There’s little about this that makes sense.
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Kalitta Air 777 suffers tail strike during go around, and more
By now, many avgeeks have probably seen the video of a plane suffering a tail strike during a recent go around. I saw the video at the time, and didn’t write about it. However, after having heard the air traffic control audio, I find this to be even more unusual.
This incident happened on Sunday, July 19, 2026, and involves a Kalitta Air Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code N778CK, which was operating flight K4262 from Brussels (BRU) to Cincinnati (CVG). For context, Kalitta Air is primarily a cargo airline, and the plane in question was 21 years old.
Anyway, at 7:52PM local time, the plane was approaching runway 36R, and the pilots called a go around, seemingly after the wheels touched the ground. As the pilots pitched the nose up, the plane suffered a pretty dramatic tail strike, with a lot of sparks visible. We’re not just talking about the plane making contact with the runway for a second, but instead, something much more dramatic than that.
As the plane climbed out, air traffic controllers warned the pilots of the tail strike, and an emergency was declared. The pilots requested to then make an ILS approach to runway 36C. They made a pattern, though seemingly didn’t intercept the ILS as they were supposed to. The air traffic controller then told them to go around, when he clearly noticed the approach was off (just look at that path in the below screenshot).
The pilots then performed another go around, and landed on runway 26C at 8:19PM, roughly 27 minutes after the whole incident started.
You can listen to the air traffic control audio for yourself below, along with a visualization of the route, courtesy of VASAviation.
I’m curious what the investigation into this incident reveals
The FAA has issued the following statement about the incident, promising to investigate:
“Kalitta Air Flight 264 landed safely at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport around 8:15 p.m. local time on Sunday, July 19, after the tail of the Boeing 777-300ER scraped the runway during a go-around. The flight departed from Brussels Airport in Belgium. The FAA will investigate.”
I’ve gotta say, this one is a real head scratcher. Weather conditions at the time of the incident were fine, and winds were light. These weren’t very challenging conditions. One wonders what exactly caused the go around (especially since the wheels already appeared to be on the ground), and then, what caused the tail strike?
What’s even more puzzling is how the pilots requested the ILS for runway 36C on the next approach, only to then fail to intercept the localizer.
Bottom line
A Kalitta Air Boeing 777 had a pretty rough tail strike while attempting to land in Cincinnati, and then performing a go around. The pilots came back around for another approach, only to then fail to intercept the localizer for the ILS, sending them on another go around. This is going to be an interesting investigation…
What do you make of this Kalita Air 777 tail strike incident?
I would just note that the ATC guy deserves a credit here. One of my criticism of US ATC is that they often just "shoot the words" not thinking about how the other side perceives them, but this person recognised when it's time to slow down, or put an emphasis on a certain word so that the message is received as intended. Good job, use this in training or something :)
Wow. Makes one wonder just what was going on in that cockpit immediately before and during this event.
Probably: "Leedle Leedle Leedle Lee!" -- First Officer, Patrick Star
On another note, you haven't yet covered the new aircraft deals for Aerolineas Argentinas (A330neo and MAX 10) - we now have details including business class cabin renderings
"Keep going... you're good, you're good... and stop."
"Don't worry, Captain, we'll buff out those scratches."