Boeing investigates as Saudi 777 lands with wing damage

[GerryW]

Boeing investigates as Saudi 777 lands with wing damage
By David Kaminski-Morrow

Boeing has sent a team of specialists to Saudi Arabia to assist with investigating an incident in which a Saudi Arabian Airlines 777-200ER suffered damage to its starboard wing during a service to Riyadh last week.

While details of the incident are sketchy, the aircraft was operating the domestic Jeddah-Riyadh route on 10 March.

Video images recorded by a passenger on board the aircraft clearly show a structural component protruding through the upper wing surface, forward of the aircraft’s inboard spoilers.

The location of the damage suggests it has occurred directly above the area where the starboard main landing-gear leg meets the wing.



© Flight
Flight's cutaway of a Boeing 777

Commentary accompanying the video indicates that the there was a loud bang next to the passenger’s window a few minutes before landing. It is unclear whether this coincided with the extension of the undercarriage.

The video images show the flaps in landing configuration and various spoilers responding as the aircraft touches down; one of the outboard spoilers appears to stay in its deployed position, while some others remain stowed. There is also evidence of spray suggesting loss of hydraulic fluid from severed lines.

A spokesman for Boeing’s 777 programme says: “We are aware of an incident with a Saudi Arabian Airlines 777 that occurred upon landing recently.

At the invitation of the Saudi Arabian authorities, Boeing has sent a team to assist in the investigation.”

Neither Saudi Arabian Airlines nor the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the kingdom’s air transport regulator, could be reached for comment.

Unconfirmed indications point to the aircraft being an 11-year old example registered HZ-AKB. The carrier owns all of its 777s; the Saudi fleet is powered by General Electric GE90 engines.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

Flight Global

[Robert Hilton]

Abit of a hard landing, probably why you don't see the actual landing.

[reubee]

Abit of a hard landing, probably why you don't see the actual landing.

Doesn't the video coverage start before the landing. I am curious to know if the message got through to the flight crew before the landing that something wasn't normal, or did they land blindly unaware.

[Robert Hilton]

Abit of a hard landing, probably why you don't see the actual landing.

Doesn't the video coverage start before the landing. I am curious to know if the message got through to the flight crew before the landing that something wasn't normal, or did they land blindly unaware.

Yes my bad, was this a second landing after a hard one? It seemed a very soft landing, that might suggest they were aware. Was it caused by a strut coming loose during retraction? Is there any other news on it?

[PurduePilot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMJEwBXXbr8

[Verbal]

It looks like part of the main landing gear actuator linkage system got loose and actuated its way right through the upper fixed trailing edge panel. It would have happened either during retraction or extension of the gear. It's not clear what phase of flight the airplane was in when the damage occurred. I'd suspect a broken or insufficiently torqued bolt in the linkage.