Crashed aircraft, what happens?

[S'land]

This has probably been asked before, but I could not find a thread so at the expense of looking an idiot I will ask anyway.

When an aircraft is involved in an incident what are the criteria for writing them off?

I was reading on the BBC news site recently that BA 080 will probably be written off as one of the wings was damaged. Can this not be replaced?

[perkin]

When an aircraft is involved in an incident what are the criteria for writing them off

One would assume the same as when a car is damaged - cost of repairs are greater than the open market value of a replacement airframe or the insured value of said damaged airframe...

[GlueBall]

The criteria for airframe "write-off" is: Money! The crashed airplane becomes the property of the insures who make the decision. Expensive, new airplanes such as the 6-year old BA B777-236 [G-YMMM] are usually covered by multiple insurers, so that a single insurer doesn't go bankrupt forking over $180+ Million for a single occurance.

[calypso]

The cost of the repair is just one of the factors that are considered. Another consideration is that airlines have a reputation to upkeep and do not like hull losses. Scraping an airplane has an effect on both the standing of the carrier and on the future insurance costs. In practice many airliners are repaired at a cost that may be higher than the replacement cost.

[S'land]

Thank you for the information. It seems that it is just like the situation with cars, except on a much higher level.

[Zorst]

First, so far as I'm aware, BA080 hasn't had any problems.

BA038 is a scheduled flight, not an aircraft, but looking past that to G-YMMM, the crashed 777 operating BA038 last Thursday, the posts above are roughly correct, except, crucially, that the insurers only own the aircraft once they've paid out. Until then, it's the owner's to do with as they please, subject to the relevant legislation.

[A Very Civil Pilot]

Qantas had an incident with a 747 a few years ago. The damage was to such an extent that most other airlines would have written off the aircraft. However Qantas have a reputation of never having lost an aircraft or passenger. Rather than lose this record they spent far more money in order to get the airframe airworthy again.

[Nepotisim]

That is a very old, tired rumour about Qantas.

Lets look at this logically. Lets say we write the 747 off. How long before you can get another one? Not like you can pop down to the local yard and pick one up.

Sometimes it is faster to repair the broken one, as maybe it wasn't that roken in the first place.:)

[Zorst]

That is a very old, tired rumour about Qantas


Yes, and not surprisingly, given the manner in which the management bahaved before the accident, and the consequences of their 'oh-so-wise' actions, it's a true rumour.

In fact, no, it's just the truth.

If you're a big customer, you tell Boing that you want another one quick, and they get you one, unless your reputation is at stake.

What chance that Boing offer an unbeatable deal on a rebuild for YMMM? That should tell us, what price the first hull loss on a major airliner project...

[S'land]

Zorst said:
BA038 is a scheduled flight, not an aircraft

My apologies for the error, even I know that I should have said "flight". I realy should have left it until next week to ask the question, a few days of working 16 hours seem to have left me unable to wtite properly.

[Thinkinggrenades]

quote GlueBall " Expensive, new airplanes such as the 6-year old BA B777-236 [G-YMMM] are usually covered by multiple insurers, so that a single insurer doesn't go bankrupt forking over $180+ Million for a single occurance."

a captive insurance company owned by BA and re-insurers - lloyds of london probably, there will be a few people kicking themselves now. but hey....you take the risk (literally).

the insurance may not pay out for the whole thing anyway and BA will be left to foot some of the bill

all depends on the outcome of the investigation aswell

[HZ123]

BA have an excess of £500,000 on any ground related accident. Just airing this issue in the office now and the view, there is an excess of 5 millions for an aircraft crash but it would also depend on other conditions. If the cause lies with BA then the Insurers may only pay 50%. Should Boeings get the blame then I imaginine we may pay nothing at all. Within the company there is an expected announcment on what the crash has cost. This will cover a/c loss, cancelled flights, any loss of bookings / confidence as a result.

[Lasiorhinus]

...BA 080 will probably be written off ...

Not directed at you, SLand, but does anyone have any idea why the media uses the flight number when talking about a crashed aircraft, instead of referring to the aircraft itself?

[A Very Civil Pilot]

Probably as the general public know about flight numbers - it's the ones they use for their holidays.