January 17, 2008

Freakish airplane accident at Heathrow

Airplane coming in for a landing and it just drops to the ground. Couple injuries, nobody killed but sounds pretty spectacular. From CNN:
Heathrow crash plane 'just dropped'
Air crash investigators are trying to work out why a Boeing 777 landed short of the runway at London Heathrow airport, skidding on grass and ripping apart sections of the aircraft.

An investigator who has been briefed on the incident told CNN the plane's captain "is claiming there wasn't power when he needed it."

Passenger Paul Venter told the UK Press Association: "The wheels came out and went for touchdown, and the next moment we just dropped. I couldn't tell you how far."

London ambulance services said 17 people suffered minor injuries, and the number could increase as several others are still being assessed.

Images showed the Boeing 777 -- BA flight 38 from Beijing, China -- grounded on tarmac after touching down several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed and white fire-fighting foam covering the engines.

The undercarriage, left wing and left engine of the aircraft were severely damaged, as if it had skidded across the ground. At least one of the plane's wheels had been torn off.

The most visible damage was to the left wing, which was covered in mangled metal where it meets the fuselage.
Yikes:
heathrow_airline_crash.jpg
Posted by DaveH at January 17, 2008 9:41 PM