December 19, 2010 Catering Truck Grounds A380

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By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

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It's been a rough couple of months for the A380 fleet and the latest incident, although far less dramatic than the uncontained engine failure of a Qantas super jumbo, could nonetheless ground an Emirates A380 for months. It was felled by a catering truck at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and speculation on various forums is that it will be there until February as technicians work under a temporary structure to repair damage to the leading edge of the right wing. The A380 has been moved to an unused area of the terminal and a blue tarp encloses the area of the repair.

The mishap occurred Dec. 6 at the scissor-lift catering truck was supplying the upper floor of the aircraft, which was to leave for Dubai that night. The scissor mechanism failed and the truck body fell onto the leading edge of the right wing. There were no injuries. The on-the-spot repairs outside in the Canadian winter suggest the damage was severe enough to prevent a ferry flight and that hangar space was not available at Pearson.