File image of Qantas A380 VH-OQI taking off from Sydney. (Seth Jaworski)
A Qantas A380 and 747-400 have clipped wings in a towing incident at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the airline has confirmed.
“The wingtips of two Qantas aircraft, an A380 and B747, came into contact at approximately 9pm (local) while being towed out of the hangar in Los Angeles. No passengers were on board,” an spokesperson has confirmed in a statement issued Friday evening.
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“Both aircraft have been assessed by engineers and as a result the 27 February QF94 (LAX-MEL) and QF16 (LAX-BNE) services have been cancelled.”
The A380, VH-OQI, was due to operate QF94 to Melbourne, while the 747-400ER, VH-OEI, was due to operate QF16 to Brisbane.
Qantas says no-one was injured in the incident, which has capped a horror week for Qantas after on Thursday announcing a first-half loss and 5,000 job cuts.
Hi aviation experts – I am due to fly QF16 in about 5 weeks. What happens in this situation? Do they hire another plane, or do they have a spare out the back?
Rodney Marinkovic
says:
Disapointed for my native QANTAS, and everyone who have any respect to icon of Australian commercial aviation. Still we must looking forward ahead to 2020! Our QANTAS must not only vin, but vin-vin! Can do, Regard from Rodney Marinkovic, Kraljevo Serbia / Sydney
Ian Muir
says:
Amazing, I’m a bit of an aircraft buff ( live in Darwin ) and specifically booked flights out of Melbourne to LA on Monday to fly on the A380 Airbus. I doubt that Qantas will have too many spare A380s sitting in a hanger doing nothing. Wonder what they will replace the damaged plane with.
Mark
says:
QF will be able to replace any A380 with a B747 pulled from any other route eg, Syd-Nrt. And replace this with an A330 pulled from a transcontinental route, and in turn replace this with a B737.
I’m not saying this is what they will do but logically it’s what they will look at all depending on aircraft spares and aircraft utilisation.
Vh-oqi was replaced by vh-oqj doing the qf94 run today.
Capt John
says:
VH-OEI has just landed SYD – Operated delayed QF108 LAX-SYD , so assume damage to this a/c was minor
Ryan
says:
Didn’t realise fleet reductions where due to begin so quickly.
David Swann
says:
Sounds like an “insurance job” ! What’s the betting the 747 will be “written off” ?!
B G Price
says:
Apparently the B744 OEI was ferried back to SYD minus a winglet so damage was minimal as was the A380.
Both were replaced by similar types ferried up to LAX
damage was nothing like the BA 744 G_BNLL at JNB when it taxied into a building at Christmas that was written off last week
Ironically the QF service SYD-JNB a couple of days ago went U/S at JNB and was repaired using bits from the BA write off don’t know what the problem was
Mark
says:
David Swann, your comment demonstrates your lack of intelligence with this ridiculous comment. While I am NO fan of Joyce, Qantas value there impeccable safety record very highly and this is no more then a minor accident from the ground handling company in LA.
JACK CAIRNS
says:
HI FOLKS – AS RETD. A+P I CAN STATE THAT IT IS MANDATORY TO HAVE 2 X WINGWALKERS ON EACH AIRCRAFT WHEN BEING TOWED – ESP. INTO OR OUT OF A HANGAR – AND ESP. AT NIGHT – IT IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ACCIDENT – IT IS INCOMPETENCE / LACK OF TRAINING OR LACK OF STAFF – THANX J.C.
Julio
says:
Applied my project:
“Do safety management system” (SMS) reduce the high cost impact of incident on the ramp”
Martin
says:
It is good the incident was apparently minor for both aircraft, but puts a new meaning to the term: “having your wings clipped”.
iscover
James
says:Hi aviation experts – I am due to fly QF16 in about 5 weeks. What happens in this situation? Do they hire another plane, or do they have a spare out the back?
Rodney Marinkovic
says:Disapointed for my native QANTAS, and everyone who have any respect to icon of Australian commercial aviation. Still we must looking forward ahead to 2020! Our QANTAS must not only vin, but vin-vin! Can do, Regard from Rodney Marinkovic, Kraljevo Serbia / Sydney
Ian Muir
says:Amazing, I’m a bit of an aircraft buff ( live in Darwin ) and specifically booked flights out of Melbourne to LA on Monday to fly on the A380 Airbus. I doubt that Qantas will have too many spare A380s sitting in a hanger doing nothing. Wonder what they will replace the damaged plane with.
Mark
says:QF will be able to replace any A380 with a B747 pulled from any other route eg, Syd-Nrt. And replace this with an A330 pulled from a transcontinental route, and in turn replace this with a B737.
I’m not saying this is what they will do but logically it’s what they will look at all depending on aircraft spares and aircraft utilisation.
What an unlucky week for QF
James
says:How long would this type of damage take to fix?
Boggles
says:Vh-oqi was replaced by vh-oqj doing the qf94 run today.
Capt John
says:VH-OEI has just landed SYD – Operated delayed QF108 LAX-SYD , so assume damage to this a/c was minor
Ryan
says:Didn’t realise fleet reductions where due to begin so quickly.
David Swann
says:Sounds like an “insurance job” ! What’s the betting the 747 will be “written off” ?!
B G Price
says:Apparently the B744 OEI was ferried back to SYD minus a winglet so damage was minimal as was the A380.
Both were replaced by similar types ferried up to LAX
damage was nothing like the BA 744 G_BNLL at JNB when it taxied into a building at Christmas that was written off last week
Ironically the QF service SYD-JNB a couple of days ago went U/S at JNB and was repaired using bits from the BA write off don’t know what the problem was
Mark
says:David Swann, your comment demonstrates your lack of intelligence with this ridiculous comment. While I am NO fan of Joyce, Qantas value there impeccable safety record very highly and this is no more then a minor accident from the ground handling company in LA.
JACK CAIRNS
says:HI FOLKS – AS RETD. A+P I CAN STATE THAT IT IS MANDATORY TO HAVE 2 X WINGWALKERS ON EACH AIRCRAFT WHEN BEING TOWED – ESP. INTO OR OUT OF A HANGAR – AND ESP. AT NIGHT – IT IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ACCIDENT – IT IS INCOMPETENCE / LACK OF TRAINING OR LACK OF STAFF – THANX J.C.
Julio
says:Applied my project:
“Do safety management system” (SMS) reduce the high cost impact of incident on the ramp”
Martin
says:It is good the incident was apparently minor for both aircraft, but puts a new meaning to the term: “having your wings clipped”.