Joe Public can get to both the locations I shot my pictures from this morning without a ticket. The temporary fence is just behind the aircraft which is parked at the eastern end of the building.

Very many thanks V800 - we're going to venture forth on Wednesday and take a chance. Not everyday one can see a Greek Twin Otter.

HD :

The first photo is taken off the high level bridge you can see in the background of the second photo - obviously with a very long lens ! You can get to this bridge from the Custom House DLR station, just walk towards the dock. The bridge, shown on the linked map, is an interesting experience in its own right.

The vessel in the background of the first picture is the Sunborn Yacht Hotel, a prominent part of the scene. You can go aboard to the restaurant/bar etc, and you may find that the decks visible behind the aircraft offer a good view as well if you can work out how to get there. If the walkway along the dock has been closed you can take the DLR one station east to Prince Regent and walk over to the Sunborn from there.

One station further east again is Royal Albert and this offers the best view of the LCY apron.

The Twin Otter arrived in Jersey on friday afternoon arriving from France.

The aircraft departed Sunday lunch time heading for landing on the Thames near London City but due weather it diverted to Southend.

I think the reason for it to be at the docklands is due to the World travel mart being held at the big exibition hall near by, so maybe the company has one of the stands there dont know if there will be any flights with the aircraft.

I like that quote ..... :p

and here she is at Biggin today....

http://www.pbase.com/kbmphotography/image/69910060.jpg

Now that REALLY makes me want to slash my wrists!! It was close to Biggin that we opted to leave the M25 and come home. We could easily have whizzed in. Oh well.. saves a trip on Friday. We did have a consolation prize though....
http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p35924849.html

Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice - all much appreciated.

Great pics chaps.

HD/AlanM - any more pics????

B-L:O

She looks a lot better in the water ....... :)

The local paper for Canary Wharf has picked up the story. Seems the promoter wants to run a passenger service for the Olympics……

The link to the print story is below. If you get hold of the printed version of the paper, they also have an excellent photo of the plane landing. (Unfortunately, the on-line version doesn’t seem to carry the photograph). It may just be a trick of the lens, but the landing looks very close to the Connaught Bridge.

http://icthewharf.icnetwork.co.uk/th...story_continue

Well landings on LCY 10 aren't far above the bridge either ! Interesting to be upstairs in a double-deck bus crossing the bridge with one on short finals.

I'm really not sure that folk will come to the London City thread to find details of HD's Thames transport or Catalina pics so I have split these off to http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=252289

AvroJet damaged at LCY ?
 

just got word that last week a Swiss Avro (HB-IYU) was involved in a heavy landing at London-City resulting in significant damage to its undercarriage/or structural integrity.

can anyone shed light or gave some more precise details ?

thx in advance

See the LCY thread on Airlines Airports and Routes.

On Saturday, August 18 an AVRO RJ100, experienced a tail strike during landing, causing damage to the underside of the aft fuselage. Disembarkation after landing was normal and no injuries to passengers or crew occurred. The aircraft was technically grounded for a detailed inspection. No other operations at the airport were affected.

thanks for the info.
I wondered why it was parked at the Jet Centre...
http://www.planespotters.net/Aviatio...show?id=053236

I see they have covered up the registration...(why bother?)


:ok: another Pic
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6054107

parked in the fire training area.

already noticed by swiss BFU:
http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/HB-IYU.pdf

I was on that plane, bloody well hurt my neck.

No you didn't, accident report says no injuries!:rolleyes:

Apparent damage about 1m. width x 3m.long aft underbody scratch with skin partly removed and water waste antenna torn off. No other visible damage...

How Long
 

How long will it be there one asks??? 3 Months some say, its causing dalays in the peak hours now. Business people won't be happy.:rolleyes:

When an Afghan Airbus went off the runway at LTBA a little while ago and it proved difficult to move, the airport authorities just hacked it up to get it out of the way. Considering the value (or lack thereof) of the RJ hulls could this Jumbolino go the same way? :)

There's nowhere else to park it I'm afraid unless they shove it over the side and into the dock (!)

Well, the place is often referred to as 'HMS London City' and tipping wrecks overboard was an every-day SOP in carrier ops!

Don't think it will be leaving LCY by air!

Had this happen a few years ago to a flybe 146 (although possibly not as bad as this one). We ended up ferrying it out to Exeter unpressurised. It's a pretty tough structure, having said that you have to be careful when the ribs and stringers are damaged near the tail.

Probably not a good idea to scrap it, RJs are currently in quite high demand (although 146s are on the way out now, it seems).

LCY is heavily ramp-constrained, so if an aircraft goes tech it ends up blocking a stand and causing delays unless it can be towed off stand into a contingency parking place. There are not many contingency parking spots at LCY, and the Swiss RJ is occupying one. So its presence doesn't cause delays as long as everything else is running perfectly, but it exacerbates the delays that may occur if other aircraft go tech.

C.

During peak times its highy unlikely that a tech a.c on a stand will be get a chance to be towed due to the stream of a.c on the taxi way or entering or exiting the Jet center.

However supose it would cause problems the next morning etc.

What are the options they have for this aircraft? its obvious that the a.c isn't going to be flown out . . .

:=

Some strange comments here.

Came through LCY 8 pm last night and it was still all-stands full, unusual well into the evening. But that was nothing to do with the incident aircraft, which is shoved into the far corner by the fire trainer where AOG aircraft are always put.

From the taxyways and from the road there seems no visible damage to the aircraft so it would be unlikely to be unrepairable.

Tail strike the damage would be under the aircraft wouldn't it. Therefore the damage wouldn't be seen.

Hangar
 

Stories have it that it will be moved, and then a hangar built over it ,and it could be there for 3 months.......Hope not!:bored:

plenty more spares
 

More a problem for LCY parking than for swiss - rumour has it they only have crews for 13 of the 22 they have - at least at LCY its not paying parking elsewhere but a case for the insurance funds:ugh:!

I'm sure LCY Ops are charging Swiss for the parking arrangements.

Friend of mine who works in the Hotel opposite says the aircraft has had the "Swiss" part of the a.c covered over now also.

It seems as if you would need to be up close to appreciate the severity of the damage to her! I have been told that the structural damage is quite extensive and if they elect to repair her and get her flying again then we will be talking months rather than weeks of work. Furthermore, LCY is not the place for heavy maintenance which will not help matters!

Where else could they move it at LCY. I exspect they have spoken about the possibilty of using a stand for the duration and covering cost, but this would be ££££. They seem buggered, hense how no work has been done for one week now.

Didn't anyone anticipate that sooner or later an aircraft would be disabled at LCY ? Wasn't there a plan ?

Costs - What comes cheaper and how much visibility do you want
 

Interesting problems

Is a parked plane negative advertising or just no problem?

How to fix it and what comes cheaper in the end - disassemble into road haulage chunks and take to somewhere else to fix or scrap for spares - fix it pronto on-site (3-shift working with an inflateable hangar ) - or risk flying it out ? What would be your choice - and does anybody really know just how bad the real damage is?

Watch this space:ouch:


P.S.: How's about a ruddy great Barge alongside the airport and tow it across onto said barge - then it can be floated off to wherever - problem here is probably to find a wherever to unload the bloody thing where it can be repaired.:yuk: but the parking bill might be lower!:)

Didn't anyone think of this problem when they designed a short strip with a 5.5% glide slope? Someone. sometime was going to smack a tail. Putting bigger and bigger aircraft in there ( ie the RJ100/146-300) only precipitates the inevitable. Didn't they think that it might, just might, be impossible to fly them out sooner rather than later?

heard on the street 20 frames or so are damaged, will need to be jacked up as the a/c cannot position out at all.

latest is the aircraft may be put onto a barge & placed over on the prepared surface where the redbull area was for the 3 months or so to repair it. The airport are very reluctant to let them have a stand for that long to then put a temp hangar over it.

watch this space.

Would it not be possible (perhaps its uneconomical to do so) to remove the wings and stick it on a low loader to remove to a more suitable maintenance establishment? With the wings off it wouldnt be especially wide...