Austrian 320 Neo hits obstacle at Vienna
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Austrian 320 Neo hits obstacle at Vienna
New Austrian 320 neo lands from London Heathrow at its home base of Vienna and has it appears had collision with an obstacle. Damage looks a bit more than a scratch. Seems to be more of these incidents post COVID maybe ..
Probably just Clic-Bait, but the thread title gives the impression that it hit an approach or runway obsticle.
Why not something like, "A320 hits airbridge" or whatever. Much less Daily Mail.
Why not something like, "A320 hits airbridge" or whatever. Much less Daily Mail.
Bit of a `rip-off` there....
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The rumour on the internet seems to be that it was towed to a gate and left there without chocks, then rolled backwards across the apron and hit the jet bridge at the gate opposite, and then was stopped by a lamppost hitting the wing, otherwise it would have gone tail first into the terminal building. All unverified of course, but since this is a rumour network…
The rumour on the internet seems to be that it was towed to a gate and left there without chocks, then rolled backwards across the apron and hit the jet bridge at the gate opposite, and then was stopped by a lamppost hitting the wing, otherwise it would have gone tail first into the terminal building. All unverified of course, but since this is a rumour network…
Indeed, this is what seems to have happened.
The aircraft appears to have been towed onto E47 or E48 around midnight, both being open stands that OS aircraft like to spend the night on. These stands are rather flat, in fact, they never struck me as having any slope at all unlike a few other stands at VIE (although synoptically, the general slope of the apron is downhill when going north). For some reason, securing the aircraft after the tow seems to have been neglected and it started to trundle backwards across the taxilane into stand F31/F33, where it first met the passenger bridge with its horizontal stabiliser and then a rather solid light mast with its aileron. VIE has rather little traffic at such ungodly hours and the apron is not at all busy then, so it may well have taken some time before the incident was noticed.
For what it is worth, wind at that night was around 150/10, fitting the general direction of LZQs escape.
At the moment, the aircraft is under examination in the maintenance hangar out of sight. No word on a further course of action is out yet but some alarmist media in Austria have called for the scrapman already. An investigation into the causes is in progress and I also dare assume that the phone line between Austrian maintenance and Airbus engineering is finding good use at the moment.
Let´s wait and see...
The aircraft appears to have been towed onto E47 or E48 around midnight, both being open stands that OS aircraft like to spend the night on. These stands are rather flat, in fact, they never struck me as having any slope at all unlike a few other stands at VIE (although synoptically, the general slope of the apron is downhill when going north). For some reason, securing the aircraft after the tow seems to have been neglected and it started to trundle backwards across the taxilane into stand F31/F33, where it first met the passenger bridge with its horizontal stabiliser and then a rather solid light mast with its aileron. VIE has rather little traffic at such ungodly hours and the apron is not at all busy then, so it may well have taken some time before the incident was noticed.
For what it is worth, wind at that night was around 150/10, fitting the general direction of LZQs escape.
At the moment, the aircraft is under examination in the maintenance hangar out of sight. No word on a further course of action is out yet but some alarmist media in Austria have called for the scrapman already. An investigation into the causes is in progress and I also dare assume that the phone line between Austrian maintenance and Airbus engineering is finding good use at the moment.
Let´s wait and see...
An A320 stabiliser is just as substantial as any Boeing stabiliser, or any airliner stabiliser, with a centre box section that runs through the fuselage. All of those will most likely shear off in a similar fashion when ran into a jetbridge at a bit of speed.
The impact to the stabiliser means that a lot of the metalwork aft of the pressure dome in the fuselage needs to be inspected, repaired and attached to a new stabiliser. The impact to the wing means that the outboard wing section needs inspection of the spars (the rear one may well be damaged), skins and the aileron attachements. At the least, they need to put in an order for a new aileron but I'm willing to put money on more substantial inspections being needed on that wing. Even for a ferry permit (which, due to the damage to the tail, will not happen if you ask me).
The impact to the stabiliser means that a lot of the metalwork aft of the pressure dome in the fuselage needs to be inspected, repaired and attached to a new stabiliser. The impact to the wing means that the outboard wing section needs inspection of the spars (the rear one may well be damaged), skins and the aileron attachements. At the least, they need to put in an order for a new aileron but I'm willing to put money on more substantial inspections being needed on that wing. Even for a ferry permit (which, due to the damage to the tail, will not happen if you ask me).
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It also seems that the left part of the stabilizer is bent aft, suggesting serious internal structural damage.
I guess the good news is that the engines are undamaged, which is where the biggest shortage of parts is.
I guess the good news is that the engines are undamaged, which is where the biggest shortage of parts is.
