Boeing 747-422 incident near Sydney, Au, May 7, 2010
On May 7, 2010 at about 5:00 pm local time, a Boeing 747-422, registered N128UA, suffered minor damage in an incident during takeoff near Sydney (Sydney, Australia airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 246 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 7, 2010 · about 5:00 pm local time
- Place
- Sydney, Australia · Sydney, Australia
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 246 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-422 · all 747-422s on the register
- Registration
- N128UA · no longer on the register · serial 30023
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
On May 7, 2010, at 1700 UTC a Boeing 747-400, N128UA, operated by United Airlines, experienced a tailstrike on departure from Sydney, Australia. The airplane had minor damage and returned to SYD and landed without injuries or futher incident. The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (www.atsb.gov.au).
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Tailstrike during takeoff
The aircraft
- Seats: 495
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: P&W PW4000 SER (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: P&W PW4000 SER (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 3: P&W PW4000 SER (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 4: P&W PW4000 SER (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: United Air Lines INC
The flight
- Departed from: SYD Sydney
- Destination: KSFO San Francisco CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 34L
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabi | 13 | |||
| Flight crew | 4 | |||
| Passengers | 229 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.