Unconventional solution: Saw the other tip off?

Ha Ha, well I understand the passengers concern and I empathise.

How should we expect them to know about CDL?

airbus 340 flight without winglets
 

passengers revolted over the idea of flying on an airbus 340 that had winglet damage from a ground collision in england.

question: to you airbus 340 guys...we all know winglets are what they are...but is there a written provision to fly revenue flights without them?

I"m not speaking of a ferry flight with just the pilots.

Usually MEL, 10 days, small perf penalty, usually just one. No problem.

Winglet missing on A340
 

Yes, I have flown the A340, minus 1 wingtip, a few years ago.

It is in the MEL and if memory serves me correct, only 1 winglet may be missing (not both), max take-off weight is decreased quite a bit, and fuel burn is increased. Performance degradation.

The aircraft may still operate safely, no major problems, although it just looks strange.

What is even worse than the Daily Mail article is some of the readers comments down at the bottom of the page!

It is easy to be scathing and witter on about MELs but to the uninitiated, the plane looks broken.

My Brother was one of 2 Captains on BA.

Standard response, AAIB, Police, they were all breathalyzed then sent to hotel. Left the next day. Fortunately made it back in time to go to Paris to watch England loose.

It was no great shakes.

Although,he did say the best decision he had made that day was to give away the sector to the other Captain who hadn't done much handling recently (apparently a little paper work is involved)

That BA 747 also flew with one winglet after that accident (or does a damaged winglet classify as severe incident?):

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1285128/L/

It is not the first time, a few years ago a United 777 chopped off an Air Jamaica winglet. Remember..Wing Tip Clearance is not assured in the holding area, as the ATIS always says.