(June 4): A Boeing Co 787 airliner operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG suffered a collapsed nose landing gear while parked at a gate at Frankfurt Airport on Thursday, injuring several people and causing damage to the almost factory-fresh airliner.
A spokeswoman for the airport confirmed the incident involving the 787-9 model in Frankfurt on Thursday shortly after midday, adding that at the time of the mishap there were no passengers on board the widebody plane.
Images shared on the Reddit site showed the aircraft named after the German city of Herne slouched on tarmac at the gate, its front gear retracted and rescue services surrounding the plane. The plane’s right front cargo door was flipped open, with a service vehicle used to load goods onto the aircraft attached.
Lufthansa said in a statement that at the time of the incident, crew members and ground staff were on board, while passengers had not yet boarded.
“Several employees sustained injuries and are currently receiving medical attention,” the company said. “We are currently investigating the exact circumstances in cooperation with the relevant authorities.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if the mishap was due to human error or a possible defect. Video footage showed the plane approaching the gate position when the landing gear retracted, causing the plane to flop onto the tarmac and tearing off the landing-gear cover.
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Landing-gear failures are rare though not unheard of. In January last year, a Boeing 737-700 operated by TUI suffered a nose gear failure while parked at Brussels Airport. A British Airways 787-8 took a nosedive at Heathrow Airport in London in mid 2021 while being prepared for flight, causing significant damage to the lower front section of the aircraft.
The incident is an unusual system failure for a plane built only last year, and which entered into service in February, according to data from FlightRadar24. The aircraft was due to operate a flight to Los Angeles from Frankfurt on Thursday, FlightRadar24 data shows.
Lufthansa has seen significant delays introducing the 787 to its fleet because of certification hiccups involving its new Allegris business-class seats. The German carrier flies a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus SE aircraft, including the out-of-production 747 jumbo and the newer Airbus A350 jets.
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Last month, the carrier ordered an additional 10 each of the Airbus A350-900 and the Boeing 787-9 to replace older planes. The company has about a dozen of the Dreamliner model in operation at this point, with more on order.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s landing gear is made by Safran Landing Systems, previously called Messier-Dowty. The undercarriage on the aircraft consists of two main gear trucks with four wheels each and a two-wheel nose gear. The popular widebody aircraft typically accommodates about 260 passengers in three classes with a range of 8,300 nautical miles.
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