Passengers revolt after being told to fly on jet with its wing tip missing

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | November 3, 2007 | DANIEL BOFFEY

[Stoat]

Passengers revolt after being told to fly on jet with its wing tip missing

By DANIEL BOFFEY - More by this author » Last updated at 21:43pm on 3rd November 2007

  An airline crew faced a rebellion when they told passengers they were going to fly on a jet that had lost its wing tip in a runway crash.

 

The SriLankan Airlines customers had been on the Airbus A340 a day earlier when it sliced through a wing of a stationary British Airways 747 at Heathrow, delaying departure by 24 hours.

So they were amazed to be boarding the same plane next day for the ten-hour flight to Colombo.

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Wreckage: Part of one of the wing tips lies on the runway

When cabin crew then admitted there was still a 5ft wing tip missing, there was "a minor revolt" as seven passengers demanded to be let off the aircraft.

A further two-hour delay followed as their baggage was removed before the aircraft could take off.

Club-class passenger Ian McKie, 54, from Loughton, Essex, said: "We were put up in hotels the night of the crash and next morning we were told we would be on a different plane that day.

"We only realised that we were actually going on the same aircraft when we got to the Club lounge and saw the plane but without its wing tip."

The former policeman, who was jetting off for a two-week holiday with his partner Gill Stone, 52, added: "On board, the cabin crew admitted that it was the same one as last time and that the tip had been ripped off.

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A closer view shows the broken wing on the BA 747

"They assured us it didn't matter but a number of the passengers insisted that they would rather get on the next flight."

The collision happened shortly after 10pm two weeks ago when the BA011 flight to Singapore was waiting on a runway, followed by the SriLankan Airbus.

The SriLankan aircraft wing ripped through the BA flight's wing, tearing off a huge chunk and resulting in the BA jumbo being grounded.

SriLankan Airlines insisted there was no danger in flying without a wing tip.

It added: "They are purely for aerodynamics and to keep fuel costs to a minimum. There is no impact on safety at all. Safety is our absolute priority."

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Since the plane has one damaged wing, the passengers should get a 50% fare reduction. It’s only fair.

[Williams]

Reminds me of waiting for Midway Airlines to get a part from another airline, and keeping us apprised of their effort to rustle up a full crew. Someone commented the name should be “Part Way” or “Half Way”. However, we did survive.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

" Drag & fuel consumption would go up, but safety should not have been compromised. "
Yes, that would be the only thing that would happen, if ? only the plane was not fitted with the wingtips.
But ? in this case, another plane hitting the wing, there could be major or minor fractures in the wing that could compromise the structural integrity of the wing.
The old versions of the 747 i.e. 747-100 747-200 747-300 didn't have the wing tips, so, it could fly without them.

[dalereed]

I was lucky to see it also.

I was returning from up north over Gorman when they passed me headed for Mojave after their round the world journey.

[Samurai_Jack]

This is a composite wing isnt it?

What if this thing started to delaminate in flight? How much of the wing are you willing to live without? This was an inexcusable compromise of airline safety. This is one of those situations that would end up on the History Channels ‘Seconds to Disaster’.

The conclusion to the episode would be “The Airbus Corporation issued a directive stating the A380 is no longer allowed to fly with half a wing hacked off”. One of those obvious situations that we would LOVE to find before the plane makes a smoking hole in the middle of your town.

[deadmenvote]

later read

[UCANSEE2]

Their purpose is to decrease drag, thereby extending range.Taking them off changes no other performance characteristics.

---

Are you sure? I thought the winglets increased stability, and cut down on wing-tip vortices, which are a danger to any craft landing or taking off behind them.

[gridlock]

It’s going to be a bit unbalanced with a wingtip on one side and not on the other. Nothing that can’t be corrected for through control inputs, of course. But it does leave rather less margin than was originally designed for.

A commercial aircraft is a fully tested design, and has to go through a lot of redundant trials in any configuration that is to be certified. I would be really surprised if the folks at Boeing bothered to certify the aircraft with only one wing-tip.

So certification is out the window. These people were being asked to fly on the World’s Biggest Experimental. Not that it can’t be done safely... but it just isn’t done.

[martin_fierro]

No amateurs, please. Send FReepmail if you want on/off ISHP list
The List of Ping Lists

Count De Monet: Your majesty, your majesty, the peasants are revolting!

King Louis: That’s right, they stink on ice!

[null and void]

LOL!

[JoeSixPack1]

but it just isn’t done.

I've seen on-site FAA certified stress engineers sign off on worse during simple C checks. The only problem here is that it was visible damage instead of corroded structural damage.

[wrench]

"It’s going to be a bit unbalanced with a wingtip on one side and not on the other. Nothing that can’t be corrected for through control inputs, of course. But it does leave rather less margin than was originally designed for."

The effect would be less than that of an unbalanced fuel load. Trim would easily compensate for any asymmetrical lift.

Of course, if repair could not be done on site, the proper way to fly the aircraft to a maintenance base is on a ferry permit with NO passengers.

[diogenes ghost]

"Are you sure?"

Yup.

[been_lurking]

A commercial aircraft is a fully tested design, and has to go through a lot of redundant trials in any configuration that is to be certified. I would be really surprised if the folks at Boeing bothered to certify the aircraft with only one wing-tip.

What a load of crap.

The 747 wing design was "certified" decades before these winglets were added. As stated earlier in the thread, the winglets serve no purpose other than to squeeze a few extra nautical miles per pound of fuel out of the aircraft. They have nothing to do with lift and nothing to do with control.

These winglets are about as important to the 747 as a spoiler is to a Honda Accord.

[John Valentine]

NONE of the photographs in the article depit the damage (if any) to the wingtip of the Sre Lankan Airlines A340.

90 percent of the comments on the thread relate to the damage ddepicted to the BA 747. NOWHERE in the article does it suggest that the damaged plane depicted was flown anywhere, with passengers or without.

to say that the article is misleading is an understatement, and for proof, I offer up a couple dozen Freepers who have written comments as if they think the damaged 747 was loaded up with passengers for a flight to Sri Lanka. Humbunkum!

[sionnsar]

NONE of the photographs in the article depit the damage (if any) to the wingtip of the Sre Lankan Airlines A340.
90 percent of the comments on the thread relate to the damage ddepicted to the BA 747. NOWHERE in the article does it suggest that the damaged plane depicted was flown anywhere, with passengers or without.

Increasingly par for FReepers today -- shoot first and let God (or the Admin Gods) sort it out.

[Domandred]

there was "a minor revolt".

I don't think "minor" would be the word to describe any kind of revolt I would have given.

[Delta 21]

I dont believe anything till after at least 125 posts.

[xjcsa]

“On a wing and a prayer [crack]...oops, scratch the ‘wing’ part...[ahem]...On A Prayer!”

[xjcsa]

This is a composite wing isnt it?

No.

This was an inexcusable compromise of airline safety.

You don't know what you're talking about. It was definitely bad PR, but I doubt it was unsafe. I'm sure they checked the structural integrity of the wing before they let it fly.