British Airways (BA) is declaring as a write-off the Boeing 777-200ER which was severely damaged in an accident at London Heathrow last month.
The British Airways-owned aircraft crashed short of Heathrow’s runway 27L on 17 January.
In its update on the inquiry this week the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch described the damage as “beyond economic repair” and a BA spokesman confirms the aircraft is to be written off.
While attempting to land the Rolls-Royce Trent 800-powered aircraft, which was manufactured in 2001, struck the ground just inside the airfield boundary fence. Its nose-gear collapsed, the right main landing gear separated from the wing – rupturing the rear right wall of the centre fuel tank – and the left main landing-gear was pushed up through the wing root.
Both front wheels of the right main landing-gear broke away and penetrated the right rear fuselage at seat height, and the gear also damaged the wing-to-body fairing and penetrated the rear cargo hold.
G-YMMM is only the second Boeing 777 to be written off, following a General Electric GE90-powered 777-200 which was disassembled for parts in 2006.
This aircraft, which carried the serial number 27109, was originally delivered to BA in January 1996. It was later operated by Algerian carrier Khalifa Airways and Brazilian carrier Varig.
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: FlightGlobal.com
