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A Qantas 737-800 has been damaged by a collision with an aerobridge at Brisbane Airport.
The plane, VH-VZG, was operating flight QF186 from Queenstown when the aerobridge hit it as it was positioning at the gate, smashing the front windscreens. Passengers were able to safely disembark using air stairs.
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“We’re investigating how an aerobridge made contact with the front of one of our aircraft at Brisbane Airport,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
“The aircraft will be inspected by engineers in Brisbane and repaired before returning to service.”
This is the second incident in recent months involving an aerobridge colliding with a plane at Brisbane Airport, after an Air New Zealand 777-300ER was forced to cancel a flight and fly at low altitude back to Auckland when it sustained a 7cm skin puncture.
“Last night a Qantas flight arrived from Queenstown and the aerobridge made contact with the aircraft, and we’re supporting Qantas with the investigation,” said Ryan Both, executive general manager of aviation at Brisbane Airport.
“We really want to reinforce that safety is our first priority at Brisbane Airport and is absolutely paramount, so we’ll be doing everything we can to look into what happened and make sure we learn from it.”
Another Qantas 737-800 is currently out of commission due to a maintenance mishap in Hong Kong early last month, which occurred when a battery-powered vacuum started a fire in the cargo hold of VH-VYI, damaging the rear fuselage; it is expected to return to service in July.
“One of our aircraft undergoing scheduled maintenance suffered minor damage when a vacuum cleaner used by our maintenance provider caught fire in the cargo hold,” a Qantas spokesperson told The Australian.
“It was quickly extinguished and repairs to the aircraft will be completed prior to the 737 returning to service.”
The 737-800 is the short-haul workhorse of the Qantas fleet, with 75 aircraft in service. It will be gradually replaced with the A321XLR starting this year, while some of its younger 737-800s will be retrofitted to bring the cabin experience in line with the new planes.
Qantas will be one of the first airlines in the world to operate the A321XLR, with its first entering the final assembly line in December; the airline has released new photos showing it in its full livery. A total of four are expected by the end of the calendar year.
“The A321XLR offers more comfortable Economy seats, a 66 per cent increase in Business seats, a quieter flight, long and wide spacious cabin, extra-large overhead lockers and fast free Wi-Fi,” Qantas said in a press release.
