Sparks lit up the runway at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on Sunday when a Kalitta Air cargo jet scraped its tail during a go-around, video shows. The aircraft climbed away after the contact and landed safely a short time later, and the airline said the crew was uninjured and the jet has been pulled from service for inspection.
Speaking to FOX19, Kalitta Air Chief Operating Officer Heath Nicholl described the incident as a "tail skid" that occurred during an attempted landing before the crew initiated a go-around. Nicholl told the station the flight "landed safely shortly thereafter" with no injuries to the crew, and said the aircraft was removed from service so it could be inspected and evaluated.
Video of the moment, showing a stream of sparks trailing from the rear of the jet as it scrapes the runway, began circulating online and was first highlighted by the New York Post. That report noted the aircraft had departed from Brussels and said the Federal Aviation Administration would be reviewing the event.
Flight-tracking data indicates that Kalitta regularly sends 777-series freighters into CVG, and recent Kalitta 777 movements to the airport are listed in aircraft histories on Flightradar24. That lines up with spotter footage posted alongside the runway video, which shows a long twin-aisle freighter making a low go-around before circling back to land.
Why a Tail Skid Can Spark
Many large jets are equipped with tail skids or similar protection systems to keep the rear fuselage from taking the brunt of a runway strike. These are sacrificial structures designed to absorb contact with the pavement if the aircraft’s pitch angle gets too high during takeoff or landing. When a skid or the lower fuselage scrapes the runway at speed, the friction can throw off sparks and leave visible surface damage.
The Boeing 777 is among the aircraft types with specific procedures for dealing with such events. As outlined in the procedures guide hosted on Studylib, tail-strike protections, checklists and inspection steps are in place to limit damage and to direct crews and maintenance teams on what to do after a suspected strike.
What Investigators Will Look At
From here, airline maintenance crews and airport staff are expected to go over the tail-skid assembly and surrounding structure to assess the level of damage. Investigators will also pull flight-data records to see exactly how the go-around was flown and what led to the tail contacting the runway in the first place.
On its incident information page, the Federal Aviation Administration notes that it publishes preliminary details on commercial events and may coordinate with the National Transportation Safety Board depending on the circumstances.
Local aviation enthusiasts who caught the incident on camera have shared multiple clips from different angles, providing engineers with plenty of visual material as they determine whether repairs will be mostly cosmetic or more involved. Kalitta’s initial statement was relayed through FOX19, and the airline did not immediately release additional details. Officials said more information will come as inspections move forward and any regulatory reviews take shape.
