MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lufthansa Boeing 787's nose gear collapses at Frankfurt gate, injuring four staff

Lufthansa said the nose gear “unexpectedly retracted” while the aircraft was stationary at Gate A15, and that the impact with the ground caused significant damage to the plane's nose

The nose landing gear of a Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner collapsed on Thursday while the aircraft was parked at a boarding gate at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, leaving four people slightly injured. The plane was being prepared to operate a flight to Los Angeles when, at around 12:45 p.m. local time, the nose gear gave way and the front of the fuselage came to rest on the tarmac, sustaining considerable damage.

According to the airline, passengers had not yet boarded. The injured were two cabin crew members and two employees of a service company, who were taken to a hospital. Lufthansa said the nose gear “unexpectedly retracted” while the aircraft was stationary at Gate A15, and that the impact with the ground caused significant damage to the plane's nose.

Insurance company watching this must be freaking out!
Here's footage of the 4-month-old Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 “Herne” (D-ABPQ) following today's nose landing gear collapse at Frankfurt Airport.
The Dreamliner was being prepared for LH450 to LAX when the incident occurred. pic.twitter.com/YwgIzLD8P5

— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) June 4, 2026

The incident forced the cancellation of flight LH450 to Los Angeles, scheduled for that afternoon. The airline said it was investigating the exact circumstances together with the relevant authorities and had sent technicians and support staff to the scene. “We are investigating the exact circumstances in cooperation with the relevant authorities,” a spokesperson said.

The aircraft involved was nearly new: it had been delivered to Lufthansa on January 17, 2026, after a series of test flights begun in October last year, and is fitted with the airline's new Allegris business-class cabin, with a list price that can reach 300 million dollars. Lufthansa began operating the Boeing 787 from its Frankfurt hub in October 2025 and keeps about ten of the aircraft based there; the route to Los Angeles had started being flown with this model in early June.

The episode resembles an accident in June 2021 at London's Heathrow Airport, where the nose gear of a British Airways Boeing 787 collapsed while the aircraft was parked. In that case, the official investigation concluded that the gear had retracted inadvertently during maintenance work. For now, Lufthansa has not offered any hypothesis on the cause of the Frankfurt incident and referred any conclusions to the ongoing investigation. The plane will be out of service pending a technical assessment.