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Lufthansa Boeing 747 aborts LAX landing; footage shows tail close to runway

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly right-leaning (67%).

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Daily Mail, the New York Post and CBS News report that a Lufthansa Boeing 747 aborted its landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday. The jet touched down farther along the runway than expected, and the crew then climbed away in a go-around. The reports say the nose rose steeply during the climb and the tail appeared to come close to the runway. Video shot by aviation enthusiasts at Airline Videos Live captured the sequence, according to the Daily Mail and the New York Post. The New York Post says the footage showed no obvious tail strike.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A Lufthansa Boeing 747 aborted its landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday.

    Reported byLeft1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

  2. The jet touched down farther along the runway than expected before the crew aborted the landing.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

  3. During the climb after the go-around, the jet's tail came close to the runway, according to the reports.

    Reported byLeft1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

  4. The jet was flying from Frankfurt, Germany, according to the reports.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

  5. Video of the landing was filmed by aviation enthusiasts at Airline Videos Live.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • The Lufthansa jet's tail scraped the runway during the aborted landing.

    The New York Post headline says the tail scrapes the ground, but the same article says the footage showed no obvious tail strike. The Daily Mail and CBS News say the tail narrowly avoided or came close to the runway.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that a Lufthansa Boeing 747 aborted its landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday and that its tail came close to the runway. The right-side outlets stress the danger, with headlines about disaster and terror, while the left-side CBS report uses a plain, factual headline.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    CBS News uses a plain, factual headline that reports the aborted landing and the narrow miss of the tail without dramatic words.

    Lufthansa jet aborts LAX landing, narrowly avoids hitting tail on runway
    CBS NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Both right-side outlets lead with danger and drama, using headlines about near disaster and terror, and the New York Post states that the tail scrapes the ground.

    Boeing 747 Sensational language“inches from disaster”The phrase manufactures alarm about a near miss that the reports describe in narrower terms.More neutral: tail passes close to the runwayDisagree with this highlight? as jumbo jet narrowly avoids tail strike in aborted LAX landing
    Daily MailRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right7

    terrifyingly closebotched landing attemptheart-stoppinginches from disaster

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    terrifyingly closeMore neutral: close

    The adverb adds emotional drama to a description of distance that can be stated plainly.

    A Lufthansa Boeing 747 came terrifyingly close to scraping its tail along the runway at Los Angeles International Airport on…

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    botched landing attemptMore neutral: aborted landing attempt

    The word botched judges the pilots' landing as a failure before the reasons are given.

    …runway at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday afternoon after a botched landing attempt forced its pilots to send the enormous jumbo jet soaring back into the sky.

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Sensational language

    heart-stoppingMore neutral: brief

    The adjective adds drama to a moment that can be described without an emotional judgement.

    Dramatic footage captured the heart-stopping moment the German airline's giant four-engine aircraft pitched sharply upwards,…

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Sensational language

    inches from disasterMore neutral: tail passes close to the runway

    The phrase manufactures alarm about a near miss that the reports describe in narrower terms.

    Boeing 747 inches from disaster as jumbo jet narrowly avoids tail strike in aborted LAX landing

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

Show 3 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    perilously close to disasterMore neutral: close to the runway

    The phrase presents a near miss as a disaster that the article's own footage did not show.

    A massive Lufthansa Boeing 747 came perilously close to disaster during a dramatic landing attempt at LAX when the jumbo jet pitched sharply…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    frightening momentMore neutral: moment

    The adjective adds fear to a description that can be stated without a judgement of feeling.

    The frightening moment unfolded Saturday afternoon as the four-engine aircraft, arriving from…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    Terrifying momentMore neutral: Footage shows

    The adjective manufactures fear in the headline rather than describing the event.

    Terrifying moment massive Boeing 747 bounces off runway at LAX as tail scrapes ground

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Aborted landing
  • Tail narrowly avoids runway
  • Video report
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • CBS NewsLeft

    Lufthansa jet aborts LAX landing, narrowly avoids hitting tail on runway

    A Lufthansa jet aborted a landing Saturday after it barely avoided striking its tail on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport. Kris Van Cleave reports.

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Near disaster
  • Dramatic footage
  • Tail close to the ground
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRight

    Sensational language“Terrifying moment”The adjective manufactures fear in the headline rather than describing the event.More neutral: Footage showsDisagree with this highlight? massive Boeing 747 bounces off runway at LAX as tail scrapes ground

    Dramatic footage captures a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 aborting its landing at Los Angeles International Airport, pitching sharply upward as its tail appears to narrowly clear the runway.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • Daily MailRight

    Boeing 747 Sensational language“inches from disaster”The phrase manufactures alarm about a near miss that the reports describe in narrower terms.More neutral: tail passes close to the runwayDisagree with this highlight? as jumbo jet narrowly avoids tail strike in aborted LAX landing

    A Lufthansa Boeing 747 narrowly avoided a tail strike at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday after an attempted landing went wrong.

    Read at Daily Mail (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    1 day 9 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 12, 9:45 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    Daily Mail, Oct 11, 12:02 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Daily MailRightOct 11, 12:02 AM EDT
  2. CBS NewsLeftOct 12, 9:45 AM EDT
  3. New York PostRightOct 12, 12:37 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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