Boeing 777 loses wing panel over Osaka

[A0283]

A panel broke off from the wing of a AF/KLM airlines over Osaka flight to Amsterdam

A car was seriously damaged when part of a 777 wing landed on it in the Japanese city of Osaka.The panel, which weighed more than 4kg (9lb), fell from a KLM plane shortly after it departed Kansai International Airport on Saturday.It damaged the car's roof and smashed its rear window after falling more than 2,000 m. No one was injured in the incident but KLM has launched an investigation.The flight landed safely at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport later on Saturday.
The airline stated: "KLM regrets this incident and has immediately launched an investigation into the causes."
They added they were "in close contact with Japanese civil aviation authorities and Boeing".

[Romeo E.T.]

BREAKING A piece of KLM Boeing 777-200 #KL868 fell into car shortly after takeoff from Osaka | AIRLIVE.net



judging by the color pattern, it is a portion of the fuselage, and not the wing, as reported

[jolihokistix]

In a different article they reported a body panel from the root/base of the right wing.

[clark y]

Not much damage. Was it even screwed on?

[Lantern10]

How can so many rivets just pop at once.

[underfire]

from the internet...

hence the confusion on the wing vs body...

[dixi188]

Looks like a screwed on panel to me.
Did the aircraft have some maintenance done whilst at Osaka?

[andrasz]

Looking at the condition it could just be put back on again. And some people whine that they don't make things like they used to ...

I'm sure someone who already realised there is a plastic bag full of small bolts in his pocket is now pretty embarrassed.

[Old Fella]

Rivets v screws

Originally Posted by dixi188

Looks like a screwed on panel to me.
Did the aircraft have some maintenance done whilst at Osaka?

I'm with you dixi188.

[jrmyl]

Could that possibly be the panel covering the wing escape slide? ANA had a 767 that lost two of those recently due to a malfunction of the escape slide inflation device. Maybe same issue here.

[Sqwak7700]

Let's see the "heavily damaged" car please. That panel looks intact. How much damage could it have made? I'm guessing it gyrocopted down.

[fox niner]

It fell off a 777-200 ph-bqc which does not have a wing slide.

[daelight]

Originally Posted by Sqwak7700

Let's see the "heavily damaged" car please. That panel looks intact. How much damage could it have made? I'm guessing it gyrocopted down.

The car's right-rear window was broken from footage I saw on news channel (was taped over) Looked like it just glanced the rear window, not a scratch anywhere else on the car. Driver was an elderly chap and a bit shocked by it, of course.

[DaveReidUK]

Larger version of the photo here: https://i0.wp.com/www.transponder120...ze=1000%2C1268

The countersinks are clearly visible, so we're not looking at screws that have pulled though.

I'd be looking at when the panel was last removed (presumably on a maintenance check) and examining the possibility that the wrong size of fastener was used to reattach it.

At least it wasn't a windscreen ...

[TURIN]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

At least it wasn't a windscreen ...

Leave it...

[Ancient-Mariner]

Was it correct to continue to Amsterdam? I assume here that the panel and aircraft were identified shortly after the event.

[ErwinS]

The bracket behind the panel cracked. Known issue on the 777. Panel was secured correctly.

So move along pls... nothing to see.

[sleeper]

I doubt the crew was aware of the lost panel. By the time the identification of the panel went up the chain of command to the airline, the aircraft would have been well underway to its destination.

[the_stranger]

Originally Posted by Ancient-Mariner

Was it correct to continue to Amsterdam? I assume here that the panel and aircraft were identified shortly after the event.

Why not? Mostly it's just a small performance and fuel penalty, not a significant reason to return/divert.

Of course specific information has to come from boeing, but any airline with this problem can gat that information quite easily if needed.

[.Scott]

Originally Posted by ErwinS

The bracket behind the panel cracked. Known issue on the 777. Panel was secured correctly.

So move along pls... nothing to see.

I'm not so sure about that. The screws are missing. And there is one hole in the light blue area that looks damaged - the one that would be at the top left on the plane, top right in the photo. I am suspecting that it was attached with only one or two screws.