BY1472 - Incident: Sunwing B738 at Belfast on Jun 15th 2023

A Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737-800 on behalf of TUI Airways, registration C-GNCH performing flight BY-1472 from Belfast Aldergrove,NI (UK) to Lanzarote,CI (Spain) with 195 people on board, departed Belfast's runway 07 when the tail contacted the runway surface upon takeoff rotation. The crew stopped the climb at 5000 feet and entered a hold while the crew was working the checklists and communicating with dispatch and maintenance. Subsequently the crew decided to return to Belfast, climbed to 6000 feet while burning fuel off and returned to Aldergrove for a safe landing on runway 07 about 35 minutes after departure.

The aircraft returned to service after about 14.5 hours on the ground.

The Canadian TSB reported: "During rotation for take-off, the tail of the aircraft made contact with the runway. The flight crew put the aircraft in holding while they ran the appropriate checklists and contacted the company. The flight was subsequently instructed to return to EGAA where it landed overweight. There were no reported injuries."