B787 towing incident at Jo'burg.

[esscee]

Anyone have any info regarding a B787 towing incident at Jo'burg on Monday evening?

[BIGBAD]

Anyone have any info regarding a B787 towing incident at Jo'burg on Monday evening?


Virgin Atlantic 787 vs Turkish A343

http://www.v-flyer.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=298391

[Case One]

Substantial damage to the 787 starboard wing, a team from Boeing have gone out to assess it. I believe a third aircraft may then have been hit by the 340. Quite special really.

TIA

[GordonR_Cape]

Nothing in the local media. Presumably it wasn't as spectacular as the B747 which crashed into a 50 year old brick building...

[esscee]

Appears a Virgin B787 as it was being pushed back on departure, the RH wingtip area took out the APU doors of an A340 which itself was spun round and hit a B737. Sounds a bit expensive.

[DaveReidUK]

Ironically, the THY A343 had positioned from IST earlier in the day on what was probably going to be its last flight anyway, joining two others already in storage at JNB awaiting the axe.

[Case One]

Appears a Virgin B787 as it was being pushed back on departure, the RH wingtip area took out the APU doors of an A340 which itself was spun round and hit a B737.

Yeah, no. The 787 was being towed over from the other side in preparation for the late departure that night. And although people keep saying wing-tip (perhaps that sounds less significant and inexplicable), it was the wing. Maybe the 340 won't make it on to the bill. One can hope.

[Case One]

Just to complete the story, the 787 is back in service after an outer wing section replacement.

[RoyHudd]

Who was responsible for the towing? (Some underpaid, relatively unskilled person, in all probability)

[SMT Member]

Who was responsible for the towing? (Some underpaid, relatively unskilled person, in all probability)

That would, ultimately, be the airline which contracted a provider for the service. You may outsource the work, but you cannot outsource the responsibility.

[andrasz]

You may outsource the work, but you cannot outsource the responsibility.

Not entirely true, depends on the terms and conditions of the ground handling contract. Ultimately it is the insurers, whether that of the airline(s) or the handling company who did the towing (or shared) again depends on the contract. Have seen (and executed) contracts for all possible combinations. With third party damage - as is the case here - things can get rather complicated, it will be field day for lawyers.

[4runner]

Who was responsible for the towing? (Some underpaid, relatively unskilled person, in all probability)

ive found SA, SAA and J’burg airport to be sort of a bastion of professionalism in an undeveloped continent. I have seen a decline, and so did our company, with an increase of black empowerment hiring. We used SAA technical for our mx for years. SAA started sending us people with zero experience for OJT. Every time one of these trainees would F up, they’d use a race card. They even tried the race card when being arrested by a black cop in black Afrika.

[andrasz]

I have seen a decline, and so did our company...
Same goes for SAA on-board service standards, especially on longhaul.