VA 777 Reverse Parking Issues in LAX...

[forgetabowdit]

Very sketchy info but not great news if true...

It would seem that there has been YET another collision involving a VA 777 at LAX as the aircraft was being towed to the gate to operate VA8 to Brisbane tonight.

You really do get what you pay for with those neanderthals in LA... (I speak with reference to previous experiences observing those monkeys on the ground in LA... I don't have any details of the inferred incident...)

Unlucky huh...

Forgetabowdit

[Sunstar320]

Bloody Menzies...:hmm:

Might be time to move into TBIT..

[Jabawocky]

Forgetabowdit

VA fly out of LAX not JFK :p

[forgetabowdit]

Might be time to move into TBIT..

...or Terminal 5!

[Peter Fanelli]

If it's such a problem why would they not change to another handler?

[Oakape]

Is someone paying these guys to try & bankrupt VA?!

[bangbounceboeing]

they managed to clip the wing tip this time and its the same airframe as last time, SIA engineers and boeing looking at it but looks like its going to grounded for another 3 or 4 days.:ugh:

[virginexcess]

..............and so BG and SS's legacy continues to haunt us. I wonder how many other latent failures are waiting out there for us as a result of their single minded pursuit of the cheapest supplier for everything.............................................. except perhaps for uniforms, the odd leased 737 etc etc

[buttmonkey1]

And beancounters think this is 'worlds best practice', lol.
Hmmm, monkeys 'eh. Management are the real chimps.

[Shazz-zaam]

Any photos available?
Cheers Shazz

[Ndicho Moja]

LAX apron walls have been claiming wing tips for as long as I have been going there - since eighties, Braniff days. The only thing that has really changes has been the length of the wings.

[joepatroni]

Where does Forgetabowdit mention JFK??

[forgetabowdit]

In my nomdeplumme itself...

Say it outloud and all is revealed :)

All done with smoke and mirrors...

:cool:

[moa999]

Looks like pax stranded for days, and VA call centre doing a pathetic job

VAustralia LAX to BNE - Cancellation - FlyerTalk Forums (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1137613-vaustralia-lax-bne-cancellation.html)

[neville_nobody]

What a shambles. If Virgin are trying to go for the business market they are doing themselves a disservice by the last months failures. First the reservation debacle then two ground incidents.

In all seriousness how hard is it to keep an aeroplane on/near a centreline whilst towing?? It's a bit ridiculous that pilots can fly an aeroplane for 10 000's of hours but some turkey can't tow it a few hundred metres.

[Fuel-Off]

Quote
"In all seriousness how hard is it to keep an aeroplane on/near a centreline whilst towing?? It's a bit ridiculous that pilots can fly an aeroplane for 10 000's of hours but some turkey can't tow it a few hundred metres."

That said turkey probably gets paid more than the tech crew anyway... :cool:

Fuel-Off :ok:

[Tom Sawyer]

"Bloody Menzies..."

May not be Menzies. Could be an actual accident. Towbar broken?
Who is actually responsible for towing VA aircraft? Is it an engineer on headset (and so in charge of tow) and one riding brakes? Do engineering "own the procedure" as is the case with most companies? Was there a wingman giving clearance?
Mind you...I think AMSA / SIAEC have got enough problems back home in Aus without digging a hole on both sides of the Pacific.

Neville....lot of experience of towing aircraft have you? Think your passing judgement a bit early. Is there a centre line at that point? Did towbar break? How can a pilot fly an aircraft for 10,000s of hours, but CFIT is or was, I believe, the main cause of aircraft loss? I maybe wrong though...............

[CSTGuy]

Is someone paying these guys to try & bankrupt VA?!


On paper, isn't VA already bankrupt?
Or are you trying to say they're trying to bankrupt VB?

[my oleo is extended]

Hmmmmmm. JB very cranky at Ergonomic Central over the VA farce and wielded the broom today,General Manager of VA Ground Operations punted. Some might say it is long overdue,time will tell.
But the problem is that the organisation still remains reactive instead predictive. Dented tin in LA again, 737's dropped in NZ, 737's damaged in MEL !! It's the culture of the organisation.
I would like to see VA produce from the past 12 months any risk assessments conducted on activities on that route, audit reports including findings and then mitigation strategies undertaken, anything at all to prove that they are condcuting third party oversight, in this case oversight of the activities that the clowns on the ground at LAX are performing on their aircraft ? I think you will find very little, which in case reflects poorly on VA's overall safety standards and priorities.

Where there is smoke there is fire and this outfit needs to go under the microscope.
I think the ATSB should set up a permanent base at LAX !!

[virginexcess]

You have hit the nail on the head.

Whilst all these incidents are painful for those at the coal face who have seen this coming and who have continually raised concerns to deaf ears, they are also a godsend in that this is the only way JB is going to be fully exposed to the incompetence that has ruled at Ergonomic Central for the last 10 years.

What I find surprising so far, since the start of JB's reign, is not the number of people who have been fired, but the ones that haven't. I can see, however, that JB is just working his way down the chain. Putting good Executive managers in, who will in turn expose GM's and so on. Fixing this mess is not going to be a short term project, but I certainly hope these sorts of incidents receive the scrutiny that they deserve and a few more of the institutionalised industry worst practices are put to bed.

I imagine that there is more than one manager in there at the moment who is feeling more than just a little bit exposed. That's one of the great things about the Village and it's idiots. When something like this happens, there are few places to hide, in amongst the glass doors and open plan offices

[neville_nobody]

Neville....lot of experience of towing aircraft have you? Think your passing judgement a bit early. Is there a centre line at that point? Did towbar break? How can a pilot fly an aircraft for 10,000s of hours, but CFIT is or was, I believe, the main cause of aircraft loss? I maybe wrong though

Yes I have a reasonable amount of experience towing aircraft. If you haven't been to LA go have a look at Google Earth or a photo of the joint, there's more lines than a Mr Sqiggle drawing.

If the towbar has broken twice then that's just bad luck. If they have stuffed it up twice then really there is no excuse for that. Given the speed at which you tow aircraft there should be no excuses for hitting something it is usually a case of misjudgement or inattention.

[positivegee]

I heard this evening on ABC radio (PM) stories about stranded pax in LA told they had been checked in back to OZ with a different carrier to discover the new carrier knows nothing of the pax...still stranded. VA management refused interviews to explain what was happenning!

+G

[Virgin Musthave]

Heard today that JB is still cranky about this fiasco and more blood is to be shed.
Interesting how the Virgin group of entities have not been auditing third party providers, including ramp ops. Some third parties have not had so much as a 'look at' in years. They will do an audit when they get advanced notice of when and where CASA is going to take a look, but otherwise they do jack s#it.
Plenty of issues going under the carpet of late. Incorrect aircraft loadings, GSE damage to aircraft going unreported, and much of this is known to Ground Ops Managers responsible for domestic operations and international operations. Seems some managers are too busy doing masters degree's or hooning around Brisbane in their sports cars to worry about safety concerns.