On Thursday, several employees of German airline Lufthansa were injured following the collapse of the nose gear of a Boeing aircraft parked at a gate in Frankfurt airport. Only the crew and ground staff were aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner when the front tip of the plane crashed to the ground before passenger boarding for a scheduled flight to Los Angeles. The flight was subsequently canceled.
Lufthansa stated, “Several employees were injured and are currently receiving medical attention,” adding that the airline and relevant authorities are investigating the incident. The aircraft, delivered to Lufthansa in January, is one of the newest additions to its wide-body fleet, according to Flightradar24. Since entering service in February, the plane has been used for 137 flights, as per the flight-tracking website.
Boeing acknowledged awareness of the incident, stating, “supporting our customer.” Video from the scene showed the front wheels of the aircraft sliding forward. The plane’s nose dropped several meters as a nearby ground crew member quickly backed away. Upon impact, the doors to the nose gear bay detached.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former U.S. federal aviation crash investigator, noted, “It is very unusual for a nose landing gear to collapse while an aircraft is at a standstill.” He warned against speculating about the cause too early, suggesting potential factors could include prior damage, mechanical failure, or maintenance issues. Investigators will thoroughly examine the plane’s maintenance history and system records and may review flight data to assess previous gear operations.
Previously, in a 2021 incident at London’s Heathrow Airport, a Boeing 787-8 also suffered nose gear retraction during gate-side maintenance. The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch reported a locking pin was erroneously inserted, allowing gear retraction despite the existing safeguards designed to keep it extended.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operational since 2011, is a wide-body, twin-aisle aircraft primarily used on long-haul international routes. The version involved on Thursday can carry up to 296 passengers, depending on configuration. The 787 program has faced production and quality-control challenges. Deliveries were halted multiple times due to flaws discovered since 2020. Issues included small fuselage gaps and problems with the front pressurization bulkhead.
In June 2023, Boeing announced delays in 787 deliveries after inspecting fittings on the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer, identifying a “nonconforming condition.” The company noted this issue would affect near-term deliveries but was not deemed a safety risk for aircraft already in service.
Reported by Yamat from Las Vegas, associated with AP’s airlines and travel section.
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