In March 2019, their flagship 737 MAX airliner was grounded worldwide after two crashes killed 346 people. It is also the latest in a string of incidents to affect Boeing's planes. However, the airline had been bringing back members of staff from furlough as they prepared for the easing of travel restrictions later this year. The incident comes after a turbulent year for the airline, which last April announced that it would have to cut up to 12,000 jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic restricting travel.
It was the first time since 1979 that every plane of a particular type was ordered to stay out of the air for safety reasons.
In 2013 battery smoke emanating from two Dreamliner planes operated by Japanese carriers led to a four-month grounding of the world's 787 fleet by regulatory authorities and a halt to all deliveries. It was Boeing's first carbon-fibre aircraft and was hotly anticipated in the aircraft industry, but its development has been plagued with troubles. The twin engine jets, built by American manufacturer Boeing, had not suffered a fatality or hull loss as of April 2020. Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA’s parent company IAG, said at the time: ' The 787 is a tremendous, innovative aircraft which sets new standards for environmental performance and operating efficiency and I’m sure British Airways’ customers will love it.' The British flag carrier took delivery of its first ultra-green Boeing 787 Dreamliner back in 2013, operating routes between London Heathrow and Toronto and Newark, New Jersey. It comes amid turbulence for BA after it announced a cut of up to 12,000 jobs during the pandemic and for Boeing who suffered huge problems grounding their 737 MAX airliner fleet after two crashes killed 346 people.īritish Airways has a total of 30 Dreamliner 787s in it's fleet, 12 being 787-8 and the rest being the slightly larger and newer 787-9 type.
The source added flight crew were onboard when it collapsed and that there were concerns among ground staff of a possible safety issue - which could lead to other 787s being grounded while inspections are carried out.īritish Airways however said flights were continuing as normal and that the aircraft was only transporting freight and so had no passengers on board. The incident happened while the Boeing-made plane - a passenger aircraft converted for cargo transport - was being loaded for a morning flight to Frankfurt, Germany, having flown in from Moscow two days ago.Ī source told MailOnline that the accident occurred because of an engineer 'not locking out the nose gear properly' meaning the vital piece of landing equipment could have folded itself up inside the plane. Medics assessed two staff with one in need of hospital treatment. Shocking photos show the Dreamliner 787-8 with its nose on the ground and broken landing gear while a stair car stands by.Īirport emergency crews rushed to the scene but the extent of the damage to the plane remains unknown. A British Airways plane's nose collapsed on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport today seriously injuring a crew member - after an engineer 'failed to lock out the landing gear properly'.
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