Qantas Airbus A380 Loses Part Of Wing On First Flight After Six Year Grounding

Stuff happens, but I can definitely understand how this incident leaves a lot of people feeling uneasy, as reported by 2PAXfly…

Qantas Airbus A380 has a very rough return to service

At the beginning of the pandemic, Qantas grounded all of its Airbus A380s. At the time, it was anyone’s guess how much of the fleet would fly again. Fortunately over the past few years, these planes have progressively returned to service.

Just last week, Qantas highlighted how its final Airbus A380 returned to the skies, after being grounded for around six years. The roughly 17-year-old whale jet with the registration code VH-OQC had undergone heavy maintenance in Abu Dhabi (AUH), prior to returning to Australia to carry passengers again.

Specifically, the plane had more than 100,000 hours of work completed on it, over a period of nearly seven months, to get it “service ready.” Qantas even specifically highlighted how “this is the largest maintenance check completed in Qantas’ 105-year history, representing a significant milestone for its engineering and fleet renewal programs.”

On Sunday, December 7, 2025, the plane performed its first passenger flight in many years, operating QF11 from Sydney (SYD) to Los Angeles (LAX). Well, that flight didn’t exactly go off without a hitch.

The most significant thing that happened is that on approach to California, a section of the slat on the left wing became damaged, so the plane lost part of its wing.

That’s not all, though — according to a passenger onboard, the plane also had all kinds of electrical issues — reportedly many TVs weren’t working, many seats wouldn’t recline, and some of the toilets were overflowing. At least this is what was shared by Lynn Gilmartin on Instagram, who was on the flight.

As you’d expect, the return flight, QF12, was canceled. The plane has now been grounded in Los Angeles since its landing on Sunday. Maintenance personnel are working on addressing these issues, including fixing the wing, of course.

I’m not sure what to make of these Qantas Airbus A380 issues

On the most basic level, this incident is kind of embarrassing for the airline. Just days before the flight, Qantas put out a press release about the amazing work that was performed for this Airbus A380 to reenter service, only for there to then be major issues on the first flight. That’s never a good look.

What’s my take on the issue with the aircraft as such? Broadly speaking, the work that goes into aircraft maintenance is incredibly impressive, and it’s one of the reasons that aviation is as safe as it is. People don’t realize how much money and labor goes into maintaining aircraft, and just how much work is performed when there are heavy maintenance checks. Many part of planes are basically taken apart and put back together.

Beyond that, though, I’m not sure what to make of this incident, and it’s beyond my area of expertise. Did the maintenance team mess something up in Abu Dhabi? Was there no way this could’ve been anticipated? Or was this somehow just a really unlucky coincidence?

In theory, I can’t help but find it a bit eery when a plane reenters service after being grounded for years. But then I also remind myself of how often planes are grounded, and how they consistently reenter service without a hitch. The whole reason this story is newsworthy is because of how rare situations like this are…

Bottom line

Qantas recently boasted how its final Airbus A380 has returned to service after being grounded for six years, only for the first flight with passengers to be a disaster. The plane lost a section of the slat of the wing while enroute, and also had major electrical issues, impacting entertainment, seat recline, and more.

The plane has now been grounded for a few days, and it’s anyone’s guess when it reenters service. So much for that 100,000 hours worth of work that went into putting the plane back into service!

What do you make of this Qantas Airbus A380 mess?