[Peetwo]

Virgin Australia planes clip wings on tarmac at Hobart Airport

Probably a bit early for assumptions as well as accurate details but it will be interesting to monitor developments. However ground related incidents to seem to be becoming the norm in recent years. Tick Tock perhaps?

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/33438134/vir...ort/#page1

Virgin Australia planes clip wings on tarmac at Hobart Airport

Two Virgin Australia planes have clipped wings on the tarmac at Hobart Airport.
A witness, who chose to remain anonymous, told 7 News Online that the planes were both on the runway when they collided.
He said only minor damage was caused.
Both planes were carrying passengers at the time, with one plane headed to Melbourne and the other scheduled to fly to Sydney this morning.
"Both aircraft taxied back to the gates to let passengers disembark," the witness said, adding that the passengers were directed back inside the terminal to continue waiting.
"Lots (of passengers) are annoyed because there is no update/timeframe for a new aircraft/departure. Most people were told to collect their luggage from baggage collection, so most have left the terminal now, but a few still remain."
No injuries have been reported.

7 News Online has reached out to Virgin Australia, Hobart Airport and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for comment.

As P2 would say, definitely MTF

Also from Binger via the Oz:

Virgin jets in prang
12:00amMITCHELL BINGEMANN
Two Virgin planes collided on the tarmac at Hobart and another veered off the runway at Darwin.

Virgin Australia has been forced to ground three aircraft after two collided on the tarmac at Hobart and another veered off the runway at Darwin.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau immediately launched an investigation into the Darwin incident, which saw a Virgin-operated Boeing 737 veer off the runway as it landed in gusty conditions.

“Guests were able to disembark as normal,” said a Virgin spokesman. “We will work closely with the ATSB during their ­investigation.”

The plane sustained minor damage. Two ATSB investigators were dispatched to Darwin to conduct an examination of the runway, surrounding area and the aircraft to determine the cause of the incident.

On a bad day for Virgin’s ­safety record, two other of the airline’s Boeing 737s collided on the tarmac at Hobart yesterday morning. The collision occurred when one of the planes was pulling away from the gate. Its wing clipped the tail of a 737 as passengers were boarding.

The planes were scheduled to fly to Sydney and Melbourne but were pulled from service.

Passengers boarding the Melbourne-bound flight reported an “almighty shudder” when the collision occurred but no one was injured. “(It) visibly rocked the plane — people were almost knocked off their feet,” one passenger told the ABC.
Virgin said the aircraft made “light contact”. “There was no safety risk during this time and engineers are currently inspecting the aircraft,’’ a spokesman said. “We apologise for the delay to passengers and are working hard to have them on their way as quickly as possible.”

The spokesman said the “knock-on” effect to other flights in the Virgin network would be minimal as replacement aircraft were available.

Here is the ATSB occurrence report/investigation summary for the Darwin incident:

Summary

During landing on runway 29, the aircraft encountered gusty wind conditions and veered off the runway, resulting in minor damage.

The ATSB has sent two investigators from the Brisbane office to Darwin, arriving the afternoon of 7 December 2016. They are from engineering and air traffic control disciplines and will conduct examination of the runway, surrounding area and aircraft as necessary. It is anticipated they will return to Brisbane on Friday 9 December. Further investigation work will centre around gathering operationally relevant information, including weather, landing data, air traffic control data and aircraft information.
The investigation is continuing.
 
General details

Date: 06 Dec 2016
 
Investigation status: Active
 
Time: 23:03 CDT
 
Investigation type: Occurrence Investigation
 
Location   (show map): Darwin Airport
 
Occurrence type: Runway excursion
 
State: Northern Territory
 
Occurrence category: Serious Incident
 
Report status: Pending
 
Highest injury level: None
 
Expected completion: Sep 2017 
 
Aircraft details
Aircraft manufacturer: The Boeing Company
 
Aircraft model: 737-8FE
 
Aircraft registration: VH-VUI
 
Serial number: 34441
 
Operator: VIRGIN AUSTRALIA AIRLINES PTY LTD
 
Type of operation: Air Transport High Capacity
 
Sector: Jet
 
Damage to aircraft: Minor
 
Departure point: Melbourne Vic.
Destination: Darwin NT
 
 
 


Last update 07 December 2016

MTF...P2