1.5 year old Airbus A330 may be a total loss after service truck hits the nose (pics) (edited)

[A HERETIC I AM]

Last edited Thu Jan 15, 2015, 03:38 PM - Edit history (2)

Edit; Thanks to DU'er jmowreader who found out more info on this aircraft Turns out it was delivered in 2013 so it was not a mere 3 months old, as my previous thread title suggested. The airframe is currently in storage according to one of the links provided in jmow's post below. While repair may be possible, that activity does not appear to have begun.

Talk about having a bad day! Surprising that a seemingly minor hit would total the entire aircraft, but the forward pressure bulkhead has been destroyed, so maybe that played into it. $220 million plus aircraft, barely broken in!


The impact;


From the rear of the truck;


Once they pulled the truck away;


In the hangar, nosecone and radar dish removed;


Detail of the damage. The white structure with the black tubing mounted on it is the forward pressure bulkhead. Totally fucked!



Starboard side;



That would definitely ruin your day! I'm betting the truck driver didn't have to show up the next day.


From here;
http://imgur.com/gallery/ApjTk

Found via;
http://flightaware.com/squawks/browse/general/7_days/popular

[LeftyMom]

1. That'll buff right out.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. LOL....from the comments on the imgur link;

[1bigdude]

41. Good one!! nt

[petronius]

2. The scene inside the cab of the catering truck:

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. LOL! n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

21. "Well make up your mind, dude, is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?"

[onecent]

56. LOL LOL that is great!!!!!

[Brother Buzz]

5. Do they issue salvage title pink slips for airplanes?

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. I can tell you this....

Whenever a plane is wrecked and any parts are salvaged, particularly those with a serial number, they do carry a tag indicating the part came from a wreck.

In this case I doubt the engines, landing gear, instruments etc. will, but it is possible.

(Years and years ago I worked as a parts manager for an FBO, dealing with Cessna and Bell Helicopter parts. Had several items cross my desk so tagged.)

[rocktivity]

6. EXCLUSIVE -- From the truck driver's resume

rocktivity

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. ....

I think I know that guy!


Too funny.

On edit to say, balancing a tank on the barrel of the gun is no mean feat. THAT is talent, bud. Don't you forget it, either!

[petronius]

10. Wish I could hear the conversation in the bottom picture:

"Hey, do we know anyone who owns a crane? No? OK, how about a marine salvage expert? No no, there's no problem, I was just wondering. Look I'm gonna be a bit late today with this shipment. No, nothing's wrong - why do you ask?"

[csziggy]

59. Would a crane help?

Thinking of this sequence of pictures with a crane fail:

[Ilsa]

79. OMG. I think I peed my pants. nt

[onecent]

57. YOU made my day!!!!! ROFL

[onecent]

58. That last picture with the dude on the cell phone got me......I think I would throw my phone in

with the rest of the mess lol

[SheilaT]

9. Former airline employee here,

and collisions between ground equipment and aircraft happen more often than you might think, although usually not quite as serious as this.

Once, when I was working at DCA, a Northwest 727 taxied into a BAC 111 of ours (Mohawk Airlines, although you have to be well over 50 to remember them). The wingtips were involved, and neither airplane went anywhere for a while.

[DFW]

11. I flew on Mohawk Airlines!

But then, I own fossils of animals that used to be my housepets.

[SheilaT]

12. Did you ever fly out of DCA from 1969 until

the merger with Allegheny in 1972? If so, I might have checked you in!

[DFW]

15. Not impossible

I grew up in Falls Church and flew out of DCA a lot. I moved back to the States from Spain in 1969.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. ^ -- Born in Arlington n/t

[SheilaT]

27. Oh, yes. We must have crossed paths.

[DFW]

40. You should have told me at the time that we would be on DU 45 years later..... n/t

[SheilaT]

45. I must not have had my crystal ball with

me any of the days we saw each other. Too bad. One would have been handy.

[DFW]

69. Oh, well

Next incarnation..........

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. I absolutely remember Mohawk Airlines and the BAC-111's!!

I have been an aviation enthusiast all my life and worked for a Moderate sized FBO in Miami in the early 80's. I am well aware of the issues aircraft and vehicles 'run into' when on the ground, pun intended!

If memory serves, the very first delivery ready Airbus' A-380 super jumbo was involved in a wingtip collision at the Paris Airshow.

It's never inexpensive, but sometimes it is funny as hell! There are several websites devoted to such things.

I envy your aviation career. It must have been very interesting.

[SheilaT]

46. I was ten years a ticket agent at DCA.

First for Mohawk, then for Allegheny. I left right before the name change to USAir. It was a difficult job in many ways. I stood for eight plus hours a day in high heels on a concrete floor, and we often didn't know when we'd actually be able to go home, if there were delayed or cancelled flights.

But the closeness between employees, especially across the airlines was amazing. In fact, we all say, "I worked for the airlines" plural, even though we only ever worked for one at a time. I actually briefly worked for Trans Texas, then Continental when that merger occurred. We looked out for each other in many ways. Example: One time a family emergency came up and I needed to fly out to Los Angeles, no time to apply for a free pass. I'd written the discounted ticket for myself, and had mentioned the situation to a friend at United. A couple of hours later he came over to me and said, "You can refund the ticket. I've gotten you a pass." He'd gone to his station manager, explained the situation, and the manager authorized the free pass. I was very appreciative.

The very best part was the travel benefits, and I took advantage of them. I was single and loved to travel, and this was in an era when young women such as myself were very unlikely to go off somewhere by herself. They'd only travel with a friend or go on an organized tour. I did both of those, but I also did such exotic trips as going to Teheran all by my lonesome.

Working at DCA I of course saw all kinds of politicians and celebrities. Helen Hayes was a sweetie. The very nicest politician ever was Jay Rockefeller, back when he was Governor of West Virginia. I'm very sorry he never got to be President.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

33. I flew on a BAC-111 in Nigeria in the early zero's

The pilot, a Nigerian, said a lot of enthusiasts travelled to West Africa to fly on the BAC-111 in Nigeria and the Caravelle in Gabon. He found that hilarious because the locals considered the planes an embarrassment and lobbied for them to be banned.

He said he had flown the 737 and the Airbus A310 but he liked the BAC-111 the best and would miss them when they were gone.

[Throckmorton]

48. Slo-Hawk?

didn't they merge with Agony?

[itsrobert]

55. I know Mohawk from Mad Men

a client of the ad agency.

[bluesbassman]

13. Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools.

I can fix it!

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. LOL! n/t

[NV Whino]

14. Looks like somebody took a very large can opener to it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Or an ax. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

20. All work and no play makes Jack a dull service truck driver

[trusty elf]

22. .......

[img][/img]

[pinboy3niner]

25. Round up the usual suspects

And put 'em in a lineup.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. That's one of them new dangled truck-planes. (More like 300 million, btw)

https://m.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. Fair enough.

Unit cost
A330-200: US$221.7 million, €163.9 million (2014)[3]
A330-300: US$245.6M, €181.5M (2014)[3]
A330-200F: US$224.8M, €166.1M (2014)[3]

[Hassin Bin Sober]

29. And those prices don't include rust proofing, LoJack and mud flaps.

Is that one of the new carbon fiber models? I wonder if that is a reason it might not be repairable.

[A HERETIC I AM]

64. The material looks to me to be aluminum....

but as hard as I looked, I could not see a line of rivets, so the fuselage at that point may very well be one single piece for quite a ways back. (Not at all an engineer at Airbus, so I am guessing!)

[Hassin Bin Sober]

66. Yes, it looks aluminum to me but I don't know what the fancy schmancy new carbon fiber ....

.... looks like either.

I thought the new 330s were carbon fiber so I dunno.

I do know they have to be really careful with that pressure bulkhead. A bad repair job and subsequent failure of one of those is responsible for the most deadly single airplane crash in history - JAL123

[NBachers]

24. See what Obama made him do?!?!?!

It must've been a hell of a jolt for anyone who was in the Airbus at the time.

[Savannahmann]

28. They'll fix it.

They'll tear apart the nose section and rebuild it. It's no more damaged than the Boeing 767 that became known as the Gimli Glider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

That flew for another twenty years before being retired.

[Angleae]

34. Only if they have somewhere at that airport that they can put it that is affordable.

They oblviously can't fly it out (yes, it is far more damaged than that 767) and if the only hangar space available is being offered at million dollars per day, they'll probably salvage parts then scrap it.

Something similar happed to SWA last year. The plane had a very hard landing (pilot error) and the nose gear folded up backwards into the electronic compartment. The only hangar available was offered at a million dollars per day so they salvaged parts and then scrapped the plane.

[Xithras]

73. After JAL 123?

JAL 123 was a Boeing 747 that had a damaged pressure bulkhead which was repaired. Years after the repair, the bulkhead failed mid flight leading to a catastrophic depressurization. The plane dove into a mountain, and to this day it stands as the deadliest single aircraft crash in aviation history (over 500 dead).

It would be very difficult to get the FAA to issue an airworthiness cert to a jet with a large patched bulkhead nowadays. They would want to see the bulkhead completely removed and replaced. To do that, you're essentially talking about disassembling and reconstructing the front of the aircraft. Airbus can certainly do the repair, but that aircraft is going to be out of commission for a long time and it won't be a cheap fix.

[Jesus Malverde]

30. Is that aluminum or carbon fiber?

I'm under the impression the carbon fiber is almost impossible to patch.

[jmowreader]

37. Aluminum

Carbon fiber doesn't bend, it shatters. Look close and you can see the curled-up aluminum strips.

[Jesus Malverde]

38. That will buff out with a little bondo.

[PoliticAverse]

31. They do make white duct tape you know... n/t

[malaise]

32. Damn

Now that's messed up!

[NutmegYankee]

35. That CAN be repaired.

But it will be costly.

[jmowreader]

36. Turns out it's more than three weeks old

http://www.planespotters.net/Production_List/Airbus/A330/1441,N288AY-US-Airways.php

It was delivered in 2013; the plane was on the ground in Charlotte (where its owner has a hub, so they have plenty of hangar space for it) when it got hit. And believe it or not...

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/6277798/

they say it's fixable.

[A HERETIC I AM]

50. Thanks for that.

I appreciate you doing the research!

[WhiteTara]

39. I can't believe that he kept driving

even after he felt the impact. That is one long gash in that plane.

[MindPilot]

42. Problem is you can't see.

I used to work on those trucks. The mechanism that raises and lowers the box is pretty interesting. But they have a huge overhang with the deck that extends out over the truck's cab. When driving, you can't see up at all so it makes this a very likely thing to happen.

[WhiteTara]

67. But after he hit the plane, wouldn't he notice?

[MindPilot]

68. Actually it is entirely possible he wouldn't.

It is a very noisy environment, the driver would likely be wearing a headset with ear protection, and communicating with a radio. The metal in the aircraft is soft and even if the truck were barely moving the driver may have first been made aware of making contact with the aircraft by someone yelling at him on the radio.

One of those things that is surprising it doesn't happen more often.

[WhiteTara]

81. Thanks. I was just thinking about a time

that I had a rental truck and forgot how high it was and I hit the awning a a gas station...I felt the impact immediately

[dembotoz]

43. years ago i was flying on a charter flight from ohare to cancun-full of weekend packages buyers

it was the mexican airlines... anyway waiting to board and the flight crew comes up and start pointing and chattering (i do not speak Spanish)

a truck had somehow wedged itself under the plan

so 12 hrs of delays later they have us board the "replacement" plane
turns out the airline names its planes after cities in mexico--same fucking plane....

the plane made it
i made it.

the free drinks on the flight were nice although i think the flight crew was a bit more nervous than we were.

[Blue_Tires]

44. So I guess they'll just take write-off and order another...

at least the airframe was insured...

[FSogol]

47. Thanks for the post. I'll avoid any craigslist deals for a cheap, used Airbus A330

[Puglover]

49. The pitot tube

on the DC10 was located very close to the forward boarding door. To the left and very close. Every time you had to pull a jet loader up to meet a plane your heart was in you throat because you were just a foot or so away from being fired.

[isobar]

51. It will be patched and then sold to some airline in Indonesia.

[Politicalboi]

52. Wow!

And some still believe a plane can penetrate steel and concrete.

[tridim]

53. Kind of shocked this doesn't happen more often.

Maybe place an orange cone or two around the nose of the plane?

Of course now I'm thinking about "Airplane" with JJ Walker checking the plane's oil and charging Captain Oveur for gas.

[A HERETIC I AM]

61. Don't forget poor Jimmie slipped and fell while trying to close the hood!

It's a long way down, dontcha know?

[PersonNumber503602]

54. Not crashing into a 200ft object must be harder than I thought...

[Rex]

60. How did the driver not notice he was ripping the nose off the plane with his truck?

Could he not feel it when it impacted the plane? I can understand not being able to hear anything.

[A HERETIC I AM]

62. I'm betting he noticed alright.

But think of it this way....if he was moving even ten MPH, it wouldn't take but a second or so to rip almost all the way through.

[Rex]

63. That's true, he didn't really cut the nose in half...just the bottom part.

You think he got a raise the next day? I bet he called in sick.

[A HERETIC I AM]

65. LOL...

"Yeah...hey Jim....I'm not feeling so good today. I think I'm gonna stay home and update my resume'....er....stay in bed."

[cherokeeprogressive]

70. "So how was your day at work, Honey?" This reminds me of something I saw in the Navy...

I was an "airframer" working on A-6Es attached to VA-128, the west coast training squadron for A-6E pilots.

We were on a weapons detachment in El Centro, CA. It was a three week det and included training in live weapons loading as well as in-flight refueling at night.

During one refueling flight, the student pilot misjudged his closing speed with the A-6 tanker and rammed right into the back of it, knocking the port stabilator AND the rudder right off the airplane. While aircraft was spinning toward the desert floor, the B/N (right seat) in the tanker was screaming out ejection procedures but the pilot was screaming "WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT" and trying to right the plane. Wouldn't you know... he actually got it leveled off. He experimented with a few things, to see if he could actually control it (the B/N still had his hand on the ejection handle above his head).

That damn pilot flew the plane back to NAF El Centro and landed it safely with no rudder and only half a horizontal stabilizer, using differential thrust and roll commands with the stick.

When I got to the hangar the next morning and saw the plane minus the rudder and stabilator my first thought was "wow somebody really fucked up while they were towing this bird". When I heard from the pilot what had actually happened I couldn't believe my eyes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

72. The Prowler is a tough bird. Ever hear about this incident?;

Partial ejection mid flight



More;
http://www.gallagher.com/ejection_seat/

[cherokeeprogressive]

74. Wow no I haven't seen that! That's some shit right there...

That isn't a "Prowler" though, it's an "Intruder". The Prowler is an EA-6B, with four seats.

Damn that guy had a seriously bad day. I was glad to read that he made it through okay.

Where you at, Wheel Man?

[A HERETIC I AM]

75. Pardon my off the cuff knowledge of aircraft which stinks!

LOL....

At home. Got back last night (Wednesday) @ 9:00 PM. Head out your way Saturday at 4 PM

[hifiguy]

71. The answer is "A fucking world of hurt"

"Alex, what is the state this truck driver is now in?"

Seriously, that's a mighty damn big thing to not avoid.

[mike dub]

76. Agreed, hifiguy

I flew KLM Amsterdam to Uganda several years back on this type of aircraft. One thing I remember is that even the wide body /international KLM flights out of Entebbe boarded from the Tarmac up a tall truck-mounted staircase, ala Air Force One (no elevated jetway 'like usual') and as a 5'11" male standing on the ground looking up at a wide body jet, I was quite impressed by its footprint. Feel bad for the truck driver, and the insurance agent (I'm assuming aircraft like this Are insured).

[A HERETIC I AM]

80. "Alex, what is the state this truck driver is now in?"

"Ummmm.....Idaho, I think."

[greytdemocrat]

77. LOL!!!

Someone is gonna get a demerit for that one!!!

[LiberalArkie]

78. A little duct tape will fix anything