Sun, Jul 11, 2004
...and it's the third time this month at Piarco Int'l in
Trinidad/Tobago!
A BWIA's Airbus A340 aircraft was damaged by a ServisAir tow
truck this week, and the repair cost is estimated to be some $1.2
million. On top of that, the aircraft will not be able to produce
any revenue for at least 30 days.
The Trinidad Tobago Express reports that this is the second time
a ServisAir truck has crashed into a BWIA aircraft at Piarco
International Airport. In fact, this is the third such incident
involving trucks and airplanes in a month. Because of the
repairs that must be made to the aircraft, it is expected that pax
will be affected. The summer peak travel period is underway, and
BWIA is going to have to look for other aircraft to cover the
schedule disruption.
On July 6, BWIA's 9Y-TJN aircraft
was scheduled to fly the BW900 flight from Trinidad/Tobago to
London, when it was struck by a tow truck that had several baggage
cars attached to it. The truck was driven under the aircraft as it
was prepared for the flight, and did not clear the underside of the
fuselage of the jet.
The driver of the truck was questioned by police, and BWIA met
with ServisAir officials in emergency meet, as well as with the
Civil Aviation Authority and Airports Authority.
Another BWIA aircraft, a Boeing 737, was damaged last month by
another ServisAir truck and was also removed from service for
repairs for 30 days. That incident cost the airline $1.2m in direct
losses.
"A preliminary assessment of the A340 (damaged on Wednesday)
suggests it could be out of service for a similar period and costs
may exceed US$1.2 million," BWIA said in a statement yesterday.
Measure have been instituted to ensure that this sort of
accident is avoided, and BWIA has announced that it will be
exercising more oversigh and direct supervision of ramp
activities.
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