A Missing Pin, a Storage Box, and a Collapsed Nose: Inside the Preliminary Report on Lufthansa's Frankfurt 787 Accident

German investigators say a nearly new Boeing 787-9 tipped onto its nose at the gate because a safety locking pin was never inserted during routine maintenance — echoing a 2021 British Airways incident at Heathrow

Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) has released its preliminary report into last month's dramatic nose gear collapse of a Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 at Frankfurt Airport, tracing the accident to a safety locking pin that was never inserted during routine maintenance.

What Happened on June 4

The aircraft, registration D-ABPQ and nicknamed "Herne," was parked at gate A15 and being prepared for Lufthansa flight LH450 to Los Angeles when its nose landing gear suddenly gave way at around 12:45 local time, dropping the jet's nose onto the tarmac. No passengers were aboard at the time, though flight attendants and pilots had already boarded and cabin cleaners were finishing their work. Two people were seriously injured and roughly 20 others sustained minor injuries.

The 787-9 was almost brand new, having been delivered to Lufthansa only in January 2026 and entering long-haul service the following month as part of the airline's flagship Allegris cabin rollout. It had flown just 137 flights before the accident.

The Cause: A Pin Left in a Storage Box

According to the BFU's preliminary findings, engineers were working at the gate to resolve a fault with the main landing gear door controls. As part of that maintenance procedure, technicians seated in the cockpit were required to move the landing gear lever to the "UP" position to test the system — a step that is only safe if a locking pin has first been inserted to physically prevent the gear from retracting.

Investigators found that pin had not been installed. Rather than being placed in its designated hole on the nose landing gear, or even mistakenly inserted nearby, the pin was discovered untouched inside a storage box in the aircraft's avionics bay. When the gear lever was activated, with nothing to physically stop it, the nose gear retracted and the aircraft's nose struck the ground, cutting power and lighting and slamming the cockpit door shut in the process.

An Echo of a 2021 Heathrow Incident

The accident bears a striking resemblance to a 2021 incident involving a British Airways 787 at London Heathrow Airport, in which an engineer performing the same type of maintenance check inserted a locking pin into the wrong one of two similar, closely spaced holes — a mistake investigators later attributed to poor labeling. Boeing subsequently issued a service bulletin directing airlines to plug the extra hole to prevent confusion, with a 36-month compliance window.

In the Frankfurt case, however, the pin wasn't misplaced into the wrong hole — it was never removed from storage at all. Whether Lufthansa had completed Boeing's recommended modification on D-ABPQ remains unclear, and the BFU has not yet drawn conclusions about the root cause of the lapse.

What Comes Next

The BFU has stressed that Thursday's release is only a preliminary, factual report and does not assign blame. Lufthansa has acknowledged the incident and confirmed it is cooperating with investigators, while Lufthansa Technik, the airline's maintenance division, is expected to conduct its own internal review of procedures and technician training.

A final report, which will likely address whether the incident reflects an isolated procedural lapse or points to broader gaps in maintenance protocol across the 787 fleet, is expected to take months to complete. The damaged aircraft has been removed from service for repairs.