Ethiopian Airlines busted wing in OSL

[TowerDog]

:sad:https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1900x1603/91d6b910_2290_4560_9cef_492771e244ae_5101a27bf87452bdd4a7b01 b01b810bdabd68398.jpeg
After de icing

[Airbubba]

Ethiopian 715, ET-AUP, a B-789 hit one of the light stands on the B-North deice pad. Looks like they were taxiing north on the 91 line which may be only for narrowbodies.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1153x986/et715_2_f1b546ac2149b357fb7b24498b517862d444f4f1.jpg

[A and C]

Oh dear ! Looks like a chance for NAS maintenance team to make some money as they are the most likely people to have the approvals to do the repair.

[SeenItAll]

I'm not an expert, but I kind of doubt that a small operator's (or even a large operator's) maintenance team is up to major repairs on carbon fibre wings. I think this is going to be Boeing.

[A0283]

Life is a compromise. For all the advantages of carbon fibre for large aircraft wings and control surfaces you get the disadvantage of vulnerability to impact. This could turn a minor event into a costly one. Is it repairable or is the wing a total loss. Interesting case to follow if it changes the economic 'impact' analysis.

[Ritam]

There may not be any damage to the composite materials -- the leading edges on the 787 wing are made from aluminum, not composites.

[tdracer]

Life is a compromise. For all the advantages of carbon fibre for large aircraft wings and control surfaces you get the disadvantage of vulnerability to impact. This could turn a minor event into a costly one. Is it repairable or is the wing a total loss. Interesting case to follow if it changes the economic 'impact' analysis.

Boeing did a great deal of work on how to repair composite materials before they even launched the 787 (there are lots of composite bits on the 777). It obviously depends on how deep the damage extends (regardless of the material - repairing a main spar in a big aluminum wing is a big deal), but assuming they have access to a climate controlled hanger an AOG team should be able to repair it without too much trouble.

[Rodney Rotorslap]

Well they put the warning stripes at the right height. Bang on target.
It could have been worse. The tower could have come down on the aeroplane.