QF10 Tail-Strike 9/2/2020 [9 Feb 2020]
 

QF 10, 787. LHR-PER; allegedly suffered a tail-strike at departure from LHR..during Storm Ciara. Circling and returning to LHR now.

I wanted to start thread about it...just notice on flight radar big circles wonder how much fuel it must burn....or just started dropping...

It will be costly for airline full flight and long time to clear back log...

Also interesting to see how difficult it is to repair the composites in the fuselage. From what I recall when then Ethiopian 787 had a battery fire at Heathrow, it was out of action for months whilst they worked out how to repair it.

I have a family member on this flight. Apparently the Captain told the passengers that there was an issue with one of the engines. The flight has now been cancelled.

A tail strike shouldn't normally impact an engine.

Probably the shortest possible commentary from the Captain rather than saying “tail strike” and explaining what it was and the implications. I assume the crew had too much workload to go through any more than minimal cabin announcements.

Also had a family member on the flight. They spoke to ground crew after landing (and sorting out their replacement flight) and they said that when the flight took off a gust of wind lifted the plane more than expected, and that was when the tail strike occurred. After they had returned to Heathrow the tail was inspected and was fine. However, the weight of the plane due to the amount of fuel (despite fuel dumping) meant that the landing was extremely hard, and that they needed to make sure the landing gear was okay. This is why the flight was cancelled.

VH-ZND is now operating today's QF10 (11 February), so all is well.