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| Date: | Wednesday 25 February 1998 |
| Time: | 06:06 |
| Type: |  Boeing 747-436 |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways |
| Registration: | G-BNLA |
| MSN: | 23908/727 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 285 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Harare-Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE/FVRG) -
 Zimbabwe
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Harare-Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE/FVRG) |
| London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft arrived at London Gatwick after an uneventful scheduled passenger flight from
Harare (Zimbabwe). During the post-flight engineering inspection, it was noted that both of the
right hand elevators had sustained some damage. The flight crew were informed, but had not
previously been aware of the presence of the damage. There was no debris on the parking stand at
Gatwick and the aircraft had not passed close to any other aircraft, vehicle or structure while
taxiing in. A search of the route taken from the runway to the stand was made, but nothing was
found.
The commander reported that, prior to departure, the aircraft had been parked on a north easterly
heading on Stand 7 at Harare International Airport. It was dark at the time and no elevator damage
was noted during the crew's pre-flight inspection. During the engine start up sequence, an inbound
Airbus A340 aircraft had taxied in a south westerly direction past the right side of the Boeing 747,
and had then turned right through 90° and stopped close behind it, apparently under the direction of
an Airport marshaller. It then remained in this position until the Boeing 747 taxied away before
being parked on the same Stand. The commander indicated that the A340 crew made an RTF
request for the Boeing to use minimum breakaway thrust when starting to taxi as their aircraft was
in close proximity behind the Boeing 747.
The first officer was the handling pilot for the flight. His only comment on the aircraft's handling
characteristics was that he had felt that an unexpected slight yaw had occurred during the take-off
rotation. However, an analysis of the Quick Access Recorder (QAR) data did not show any
significant yaw, lateral acceleration or elevator control surface position split during the take-off
sequence.
Detailed examination of the elevator damage showed that a narrow object, painted blue, had struck
the underside of the right hand outboard elevator causing damage to the lower skin. It had travelled
inboard causing more serious damage to the inboard elevator and had caused a piece of honeycomb
structure about two feet long and up to 10 inches wide to break out from the trailing edge. It had
then stopped before striking the tailcone.
Checks with the airport authority and ATC at Harare indicated that there were no records of any
abnormal events nor of any retrieval of debris from the ramp area. However, the Boeing 747
operator's local representative did locate a small piece of fibreglass type debris from the ramp area.
This was forwarded to the operator's engineering base for examination. It proved to be too small to
be positively confirmed as debris from the Boeing 747 elevator structure.
An examination of ground equipment and vehicles at Harare was carried out by the Boeing 747
operator's staff. It was found that all such equipment was white in colour. Of the vehicles in use,
only one was painted blue and this was undamaged.
Calculations showed that, for the laden weight of the Boeing 747, the A340 winglet would have
been close to the height required to strike the Boeing 747's elevators. However, no damage was
reported to have occurred to the right winglet of the A340 aircraft, so it could not be positively
concluded that it had been in contact with the Boeing 747 elevators
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f17340f0b61342000337/dft_avsafety_pdf_501193.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6545581 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 10 November 1994 | G-BNLA | British Airways | 0 | near Buenos Aires-Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE/SAEZ) |  |
sub |
| Engine fire | ||||||
| 17 March 1995 | G-BNLA | British Airways | 0 | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |  |
sub |
| Collision with other aircraft on apron | ||||||
| 22 January 1996 | G-BNLA | British Airways | 0 | over Abbeville |  |
min |
| Inflight fire | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Apr-2025 18:11 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 12-Apr-2025 18:12 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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