It looks like China Southern didn’t have a good night at LAX.
China Southern 328 was departing from Los Angeles to Guangzhou when the A380 got in an accident with a tug. Here’s a picture of the incident from Instagram user @bjazzy_310:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMqk8JEg8TL/?taken-by=bjazzy_310
Ouch! CBS Los Angeles reports that the tug driver sustained a minor injury, though no one else was hurt.
The plane returned to the terminal after the incident, and ended up being canceled. I’m not sure if that was because the crew “timed out,” or because they couldn’t fix the damage to the plane. Some other flights were canceled because of the incident as well, as the plane was blocking the taxiway, so they couldn’t get out.
I’ll be curious to see what caused this incident. It’s not yet clear whether the tug that the plane got in an accident with was the same one that helped the plane push back, or another one. If it was the same one, then perhaps it was a miscommunication as to whether or not the tug was clear and the plane was ready to taxi.
If it was a completely different tug, then chances are the pilots weren’t at fault, since airplanes always have the right of way ahead of ground vehicles.
(Tip of the hat to @pir8z40)
@Ethan @Chris.
I had the 6am American airlines flight from LAX-JFK and when I arrived at around 5AM, I noticed the long lines for the MIA & HKG & SYD flight where they were rebooking people and everyone just looked miserable. Sorry you had to deal with that.
I thought that it might have been a 777 went tech or something, but this explains a lot now.
I was on the Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane that was stuck behind this for 4.5 hours - we were the first ones out. I was also starting to worry that the flight crew would become "illegal". They did a great job of keeping us informed though, and were quite proactive in making sure we had access to drinks / snacks. Unfortunately, the ground crew in BNE were a total sh*t show. The flight manager...
I was on the Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane that was stuck behind this for 4.5 hours - we were the first ones out. I was also starting to worry that the flight crew would become "illegal". They did a great job of keeping us informed though, and were quite proactive in making sure we had access to drinks / snacks. Unfortunately, the ground crew in BNE were a total sh*t show. The flight manager didn't have any updates on connections before we landed, there was no one to meet us to help at arrival (we were instructed to go to the transfer desk), and when we got to the desk, there was no one there. It took an hour to find anyone from VA so they could Help with rebookings. I'm still sitting in the ANZ lounge, waiting for a flight to AKL before connecting to WLG in the morning (I was originally nonstop from BNE to WLG). They were completely unprepared for us, and in fact when the guy got to the transfer desk, he seemed pretty confused to see all of us.
Wasn't the tug driver's fault. The tow bar snapped as he pushed back the 380, causing it to jack-knife in to the undercarriage. Just an unfortunate accident.
I was on AA LAX-HKG last night. We got stuck at gate 43 along with a few other flights. The HKG and SYD flights ended up canceling. Trying again tonight...no comp yet though
Ben, I was flying LAX-MIA last night, we were suppose to leave at 11:55 but we ended up leaving at 7:30am (ouch)!. I just landed in Miami. AA awarded me 10,000 AADVANTAGE miles! Not complaining!
https://twitter.com/stenven6/status/797017384707977216/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
More pics here...looks like it's that tractor pushing the airplane. The towbar is bent and the nose gear is oriented straight ahead.... Maybe a bypass pin both the ground crew and the cockpit missed?
This has the makings of an Air Crash Investigation episode ! Mayday !
The flight is actually cancelled per the press release from China Southern.
The flight is also displayed as "cancelled" in flight aware, so I believe the google stats are not accurate.
@ Stanley -- Whoops, thank you. Updated the post.
haha, these are Chinese flight attendants. You think they follow legal timing rules. :-)
But also I think for long flights there is a lot of cushion for delays, so with 5 hours I would think they're still ok. They have 14 hrs to sleep on the plane if they're tired, lol.
Doesn't look much like a 380 to me-must have been really rearranged!!