As of: March 28, 2024, 8:03 a.m
By: Robin Dittrich
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The series of breakdowns by aircraft manufacturer Boeing seemed to never end. Now the competitor company Airbus is also affected by an incident.
Salt Lake City – In early 2024, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost part of the aircraft wall during flight. The same thing happened on Sunday to an Airbus plane with almost 300 people on board.
Airbus loses aircraft part shortly after takeoff
The Airbus A330neo took off from Salt Lake City in the state of Utah. Shortly after takeoff, a plate behind one of the two engines is said to have come loose, reports
the Associated Press
. The original destination of the plane, which took off from the USA, was Amsterdam. However, due to the incident, the Airbus plane had to turn around and return to the departure airport. How the pilots found out about this is initially unclear.
Part of the paneling on an Airbus A330neo operated by Delta Airlines came off shortly after take-off. (Symbolic image) © NurPhoto/Imago
The Airbus A330neo is part of the Delta Airlines fleet. After the plane returned, the airline spoke of “a reported mechanical problem” that would have apparently made it too risky to continue the flight. There were 260 passengers and 13 crew members on the flight from Salt Lake City. None of the people on board were reported to have been injured in the incident on Sunday.
Airbus and Boeing with some problems - several breakdowns within a few months
According to information from the Federal Aviation Administration's safety database, a pylon panel behind the engine on the left wing had come loose. Pylons are used to attach engines to the wing. They are not load-bearing, but improve aerodynamics. Although the part of the fairing came off immediately during takeoff, the Airbus still flew to the border between Montana and North Dakota, which is almost several hundred kilometers away. It wasn't until three hours after takeoff that the plane successfully landed back in Salt Lake City.
The incident with the four-year-old Airbus A330neo is just one of many in recent months. Boeing in particular caused a stir because part of the paneling on their plane had also come loose. A short time later, a Boeing plane lost a wheel before takeoff. Also in March, a Boeing plane landed in Oregon missing a piece of aluminum skin. After the problems at Boeing, Airbus announced that it wanted to deliver around 800 commercial aircraft this year, 65 more than in 2023. (
rd/ap
)