Wreckage: Part of one of the wing tips lies on the runway
Posted on 11/03/2007 5:48:45 PM PDT by Stoat
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."
ROTFLMAO!!!
Of course it will fly without wingtips. The point is that the design has never been certified with one wingtip.
The right thing to do is to fly the bird back to the repair facility without passengers. The Experimental classification in the United States prohibits the use of the aircraft for carrying paying passengers. Common sense dictates that the same general rule should apply here.
I buy the winglets purpose and necessity to actually achieve flight. I guess 24h is enough time to determine whether the impact itself may have caused damage to the plane beyond removing a wing tip? The wing itself can take tremendous loads, obviously, and probably survived the impact fine.
Saying all of that... I wouldn’t get on the plane either. Better to not see or know about all of the things actually broken on it than to see the remains of a shredded wing tip.
YOu may be right - but then why the greater attention paid to the BA 747?
Sounds like sensational reporting to me.
The Sri Lankan airliner “hit” the British Airlines plane. British Airlines is the one that want to fly with a broken wing tip.
Sounds like sensational reporting to me.
Exactly. They ran the only picture they had, which appears to have been taken by a passenger.
A340 CDL 57-2
“One may be missing provided hole is covered. Increase fuel consumption by 1%. Reduce the take-off and approach climb limiting weight by 2%.The maximum take-off weight must not be higher than 245 tonnes.”
With part of the winglet missing would the airplane pull to that side or to the other side?
Years before that, I was an Airways of New Mexico flight (which was eventually shut down when FAA inspectors found lots of engine block cracks in their planes). The ground crew forgot to lock the baggage compartment door behind one of the engines, so the door began banging up and down right after takeoff. One of the passengers, sitting in the copilot seat, tapped the pilot on the shoulder and pointed it out to him. Boy was he pissed. He stood that plane on its wingtip and set it back down in a hurry. I got two takeoffs for the price of one.
It wasn't nicknamed "Scareways of New Mexico" for nothing.
So the plane we are looking at is not the plane they were being asked to fly in?
You can see the wing of the Sri Lankan A340 in the foreground of the photo, but yes the shredded winglet, and the part on the ground, belongs to the British Airways 747 that takes up most of the photo.
LOL!
LOL!
I'm honored to understand that I may have played a small role in making others smile; please use it in good health and at your whim :-)
Considering the 'advisory' theme of this thread i.e. "check the wings of your chosen airline to assure yourself of their existence prior to boarding",I would also wish to advise, as a public service, that Winter is approaching in many parts of the world and particular care should be exercised when venturing outdoors
and also when visiting various interactive exhibits, as miscellaneous body parts will sometimes go missing if appropriate care is not exercised.
Yes, those ends of wing tips that point up, reduce drag, I forget the formal name for them, but they have ZERO impact on the lift capacity or airworthiness of an aircraft
I dont know why you're even questioning this. Any aircraft in which you could see a part of the wing ripped off is UNSAFE even if Wilbur Wright signed off on the inspection sheet. We used to ground aircraft for even the slightest delamination on the wing.
Rather than trying to justify this breach of QA Protocol, just chalk it up to a lapse of judgement and move on.
I found it interesting that only 7 passengers wanted off the plane. I guess the remaining passengers were the sheeple.
The Daily Mail article that this thread links to has been (finally!) linked at the DrudgeReport.
Welcome aboard, Matt! Better late than never! LOL
I dont know why you're even questioning this. Any aircraft in which you could see a part of the wing ripped off is UNSAFE even if Wilbur Wright signed off on the inspection sheet. We used to ground aircraft for even the slightest delamination on the wing.
I'm questioning it because I think people (you) are jumping to conclusions without knowing enough of the facts. The winglet pictured was from the other plane (and yes, it looked very bad, but it wasn't the plane in question here). If the A340's wingtip was only minimally damaged, and it was properly removed, and if it's certified to fly without it, and if the rest of the wing was properly inspected and found to be safe, then this was probably a reasonable move. I'm guessing all those things did happen; the airline would not want to open itself to an accident, and the pilots are probably not stupid.
But don't let details and facts get in the way of trashing the airline.
Amazing.
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