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Posted on 03/30/2007 5:08:59 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
(AP) DENVER An empty passenger bridge collapsed over the wing of a United Airlines plane at Denver International Airport on Friday, damaging the aircraft but causing no injuries, the airline said.
The cause of the collapse and the extent of the damage were not immediately known.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the Boeing 757 had just arrived from Boston and the 184 passengers and crew were still on board.
The bridge extends from the concourse to the plane. The one that collapsed is a new type that extends over the wing so passengers can use both the front and rear exits of the plane.
The collapse occurred in the rear portion of the bridge, McCarthy said. The aircraft will be moved and repaired after the bridge is raised, she said.
The plane had been scheduled to fly to New York's LaGuardia Airport, but that flight was canceled and the passengers were being booked on other flights.
Denver is one of the first airports to use the over-the-wing bridge, a DoubleDocker manufactured by Ottawa-based Dewbridge Airport Systems, according to the company's Web site. It is designed to speed loading and unloading to reduce the time aircraft spend on the ground.
It was installed last year and was financed by United, the Web site said.
Dewbridge Vice President Neil Hutton said the company is investigating.
"We have dispatched a team to Denver. We have no idea yet what caused the collapse."
He said there have been no indications of any safety issues with the bridges and no other collapses.
Five of the bridges are in use in Denver and three in Vancouver, British Columbia, he said.
The fully automated bridges are guided to the aircraft doors by a system using lasers.
Here is a link to another story in the RockyMountainNews.com that I originally intended to post. It has more information, but I would have been required to excerpt most of it out.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/airlines/article/0,2777,DRMN_23912_5453722,00.html
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
Do you think they might just part it out for parts for other planes ?
I think they'd try to avoid that. United really can't afford to buy planes right now so soon after emerging from bankruptcy. There is nothing on the market that has the performance and capacity of the 757, and United especially needs that performance at Denver.
There's an airplane chop shop in northern Mississippi that might be able to accomodate them.
It isn't hard to get credit coming out of bankruptcy - in fact, it isn't that hard to get credit while in bankruptcy.
Here's something from last month:
"United Airlines, the primary subsidiary of UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: UAUA), announced today that on February 2, 2007, it used cash to pay down $972 million of its original $3 billion exit facility, and refinanced the remaining $2 billion. The new facility was arranged by J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets as joint lead arrangers and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC as syndication agent. The transaction results in significantly lower interest costs, less restrictive covenants, and releases approximately $2.5 billion of collateral." http://ir.united.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=83680&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=958433&highlight=
I wonder if it was operator error?
There have been tornados tearing thru Colorado these past few days.
There have been dozens of planes with cracked windshields that have no explanation.
It almost seems as tho something sinister is happening there.
DIA now has a program in place that has monitors keeping watch on the TSA personnel.
Has to be more to this story.
Incorrect.
FOD Blamed For Cracked Windshields At DIA
Make sure that tinfoil is nice and tight.
NEW YORK - The chairman, chief executive and president of UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, received compensation worth $39.7 million in 2006, UAL's first year as a standalone company after emerging from three years of bankruptcy protection.
http://www.unitedafa.org/news/pdetails.asp?ID=156
Here's another:
Workers are also unhappy with the company incentive plan that paid Tilton a $839,028 bonus, equal to 122 percent of his salary, which also was disclosed in the SEC filing. Lower-level workers are eligible for far smaller bonuses under the plan, known as "Success Sharing." For example, the most pilots could receive, if United reaches on-time and other goals, is 2 percent of their annual pay.
http://www.unitedafa.org/news/pdetails.asp?ID=160
Thanks for the info, and the gratuitous insult.
Guess you just couldn't resist!
Thanks, my daughter flies in and out of DIA quite frequently so I was a bit curious as to what was going on there. Seems I read something about a plane having to turn back just last week due to a cracked windshield.
Hard to see how the explanation is possible since high winds are nothing new to the DIA area. Most of Colorado is pelted with brown dust......the airport has tornado shelter signs at the restrooms.
Duck tape, bondo and paint. She'll be up and in the air by morning.
Nothing gratuitous about stating a fact.
DIA has been cursed since it opened. Wonder if it is built on an ancient Indian burial ground?
It sure didn't look like an insult! I hate it how some people go off as if nefarious forces are at work, when they are ignorant and ignorant to facts.
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