Saturday 19 June 2021

British Airways Dreamliner 787 nose has collapsed on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport

A British Airways Boeing 787 nose has collapsed on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) injuring one crew member on the ground after an 'engineer failed to lock the landing gear properly'. 

The aircraft is confirmed to have suffered a collapse to its front landing gear while having cargo loaded into its hold, after an engineer 'failed to lock out the landing gear properly'. A flight operator said the plane was transporting freight and had no passengers on board at the time.  A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: 'We were called at 8:05am to reports of an incident at Heathrow Airport. We sent a number of resources to the scene including our hazardous area response team (HART), ambulance crews, a medic on a bicycle and an incident response officer. Our medics assessed two people at the scene. After an assessment we took one person to hospital.'...'The main thing is that none of the ground crew were in and around the nose gear when it collapsed.'

A British Airways Dreamliner 787 has suffered a nose gear collapse on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport this morning. Photos show the aircraft at an angle surrounded by fire crews and police
           Photo credit - Twitter/MZulqarnainBut1

Shocking photos show the Dreamliner 787-8 with its nose on the ground and broken landing gear while a stair car stands by. Airport emergency crews rushed to the scene but the extent of the damage to the plane remains unknown. The incident happened while the Boeing-made plane - a passenger aircraft converted for cargo transport - was being loaded for a morning flight to Frankfurt, Germany, having flown in from Moscow two days ago.

A source told reporters that the accident occurred because of an engineer 'not locking out the nose gear properly'; meaning the vital piece of landing equipment could have folded itself up inside the plane.
It was later discovered that a safety pin in the front landing gear in the wrong hole while changing some parts, was the cause of the collapse.
The source added flight crew were onboard when it collapsed and that there were concerns among ground staff of a possible safety issue - which could lead to other 787s being grounded while inspections are carried out. British Airways however said flights were continuing as normal and that the aircraft was only transporting freight and so had no passengers on board.


   
Airport emergency crews rushed to the scene with the extent of the damage to the plane not yet known. It appears only the front landing gear, underneath the pilot's cabin, has collapsed, leaving the plane at a downwards angle
                Photo credit - Twitter/MZulqarnainBut1

It appears only the front landing gear, underneath the pilot's cabin, has collapsed, leaving the plane at a downwards angle. 'Full extent of the damage is currently unknown, but further details will be reported once available.'
Callum Jones, a ramp agent at Manchester airport, said they are just lucky nobody was under the nose when it collapsed and no push back tug was attached otherwise it could have been a lot worse.

British Airways has a total of 32 Dreamliner 787s in it's fleet, 
12 Boeing 787-8
18 Boeing 787-9 
  2 Boeing 787-10

Aircraft Information:
Airline: British Airways
Code: BA/ BAW
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8
Registration: G-ZBJB
Serial Number: 38610
First Flight: 08/06/2013


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