As investigators probe Thursday’s Lufthansa Boeing 787 nose gear collapse at Frankfurt Airport that injured several crew members, aviation safety experts are drawing striking parallels to an almost identical incident involving a British Airways Dreamliner nearly five years ago .
The Lufthansa incident occurred on June 4, 2026, when a Boeing 787-9 destined for Los Angeles suddenly collapsed onto its nose at the gate. Passengers had not yet boarded, but several crew members sustained injuries requiring hospital treatment .
Remarkably, on January 18, 2021, a British Airways Boeing 787-8 registered as G-ZBJB suffered the exact same failure while being prepared for a cargo flight from London Heathrow to Frankfurt . That incident injured the co-pilot and a cargo loader.
Investigation Revealed Startling Human Error
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) conducted a thorough investigation into the British Airways collapse. Their findings pointed to a critical maintenance error: the nose landing gear downlock pin had been inserted into the wrong hole .
The design of the 787’s nose landing gear created a dangerous opportunity for mistake. Two holes sat in such close proximity that a mechanic could easily insert the locking pin into the incorrect apex pin bore instead of the required downlock pin hole . When the landing gear selector was subsequently cycled during a required maintenance procedure, the nose gear retracted — collapsing the aircraft onto the tarmac.
A Bizarre Detail: The Mechanic Was Too Short
Adding an unusual dimension to the British Airways incident, investigators discovered that the lead mechanic assigned to install the pin was “not tall enough” to reach the nose landing gear mechanism . He asked a taller colleague to perform the task, who then mistakenly inserted the pin into the wrong location.
Warnings Were Ignored
Perhaps most troubling, authorities had already identified this design flaw years before the British Airways collapse. Following a similar 2018 incident involving another 787, Boeing issued a service bulletin requiring installation of an insert that would block the incorrect pin hole . The FAA mandated this modification through an Airworthiness Directive issued on January 16, 2020, with a 36-month compliance period.
However, British Airways deferred the modifications across its fleet, citing the “economic impact of the pandemic” . The unmodified G-ZBJB collapsed just five months after the deadline.
Could History Be Repeating?
The AAIB concluded that British Airways “might have escalated the priority for the modification” if greater consideration had been given to personnel safety risks . The airline has since completed all modifications and implemented better safety management systems.
As Lufthansa now launches its own investigation, the critical question remains: Had the German carrier implemented the mandatory 787 nose gear modifications required after the 2021 British Airways incident? Or does Thursday’s collapse suggest another maintenance error — or perhaps an entirely new problem with the Dreamliner’s landing gear design?
Lufthansa officials have not yet commented on whether modifications were completed on D-ABPQ, the four-month-old 787-9 involved in the latest collapse . The airline has stated only that it is “investigating the exact circumstances with the relevant authorities” .
Until that investigation concludes, passengers and aviation safety experts will be watching closely — and wondering whether a known problem has resurfaced with dangerous consequences.