fholbert
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November 8, 2019
A door on a Qantas A380 has been almost totally ripped off after one of the airline's double-deck planes struck scaffolding as it was being rolled out of a maintenance hangar at Sydney Airport.
The incident in the hangar at Qantas' jet base late on Friday forced the cancellation of flight QF7 from Sydney to Dallas in the US on Saturday afternoon. A return flight – QF8 – that was due to leave Dallas on Sunday (AEST) has also been cancelled due to the damaged A380.
The airline already has two A380s on the ground undergoing refurbishment in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi, in the Middle East. The A380 is the flagship of Qantas' fleet, of which it has 12.
The damaged A380 – registered VH-OQB – had been undergoing routine maintenance in Hangar 96 at the jet base and struck a support structure as it was being pulled out in readiness to re-enter service.
Engineers expect it to take about two weeks to fix the damaged aircraft.
Qantas confirmed in a statement that the aircraft door of the A380 "sustained some damage inside the hangar" during maintenance. "We are working to minimise impacts to our customers and we apologise for any delays," a spokesman said on Saturday.
Passengers who were on the cancelled Sydney-Dallas flights have been put on alternative services.
The incident comes as Qantas grounded three of its Boeing 737 aircraft late last month for repair after finding cracks in the "pickle fork", which reinforces the wings' connection to the plane's body.
Qantas completed inspections on all 33 of its 737 planes with more than 22,600 flights more than a week ago. US manufacturer Boeing and airline regulators have said that the pickle-fork cracks do not pose an immediate safety risk.
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