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China Eastern gets a nasty looking hole in a wing

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China Eastern gets a nasty looking hole in a wing

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Old 13th Aug 2019, 17:05
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China Eastern gets a nasty looking hole in a wing

China Eastern 777 MU588 yesterday had to return to JFK with a torn looking wing. Story on simply flying.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 17:35
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Part of the inboard left spoiler and adjacent skin missing:




https://samchui.com/2019/08/13/china...iler-fell-off/
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 17:37
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Looks like a spoiler ram has got fed up and jumped ship taking a chunk of skin with it.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 18:57
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The inboard spoiler PCU sits mid span of the spoiler panel so likely not.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 19:13
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. . . Or maybe a bit of bother around the inner hinge area.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 20:01
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Originally Posted by Terry McCassey
. . . Or maybe a bit of bother around the inner hinge area.
Looks like it doesn't it? So maybe a hinge has gone dirty and some bozo was napping on the C Check ?
Or maybe ripple effect as the PCU put the torque down the wing.
Certainly an interesting failure. Now these birds are getting on a bit.

Oh well, time will tell.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 22:22
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Five-year-old airframe.
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Old 13th Aug 2019, 23:07
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Does rather look like a hinge seized (for whatever reason - age, lack of lube, defective hinge, etc.) - the force of the actuator was more than the surrounding structure could deal and the structure failed before the hinge.
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Old 15th Aug 2019, 05:20
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The report says they had to turn back shortly after takeoff. Assuming they took off with no damage, at what point would an inboard spoiler have been used in takeoff and climb? Aren't those spoilers ground only (not sure, but I believe that's correct)? If that's correct, my guess is the damage was associated with flap retraction, not spoiler movement.
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Old 15th Aug 2019, 05:38
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Could be.

But could also be a small crack or tear that occured during the previous landing, that didn't become visibly large until the increasing slipstream forces began ripping off parts on the next take-off.

There can be quite a time gap between cause and effect in aviation (cf: Air Moorea 1121).
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Old 15th Aug 2019, 06:13
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Originally Posted by Dave Therhino
The report says they had to turn back shortly after takeoff. Assuming they took off with no damage, at what point would an inboard spoiler have been used in takeoff and climb? Aren't those spoilers ground only (not sure, but I believe that's correct)? If that's correct, my guess is the damage was associated with flap retraction, not spoiler movement.
on most aircraft Some spoilers are also used with aileron for control during turns. Not sure if this applies here.
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Old 16th Aug 2019, 03:50
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That's definitely the case on the 777, I just don't think the very large inboard spoilers are used for roll control. Don't know for certain, though.
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Old 16th Aug 2019, 05:15
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Originally Posted by Dave Therhino
That's definitely the case on the 777, I just don't think the very large inboard spoilers are used for roll control. Don't know for certain, though.
Gust alleviation?
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Old 18th Aug 2019, 00:19
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Possible I suppose, but the few wing load relief systems I actually know anything about move outboard surfaces to relieve wing bending loads. I don't know any details about the 777 load relief system, though.
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