Qantas repair

VH-OJH INCIDENT

23 SEPTEMBER 1999PETER THOMASOJH PROJECT COORDINATOR

THE FIRST DAY

• VH-OJH left the end of RWY 21L at BKK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT on the night of 23 SEPTEMBER 1999. The A/C travelled a further 200 metres across the RWY run-off area.

• On its way the A/C collided with the RWY 03R Localiser Antenna before coming to rest in a RWL position.

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Localiser Antenna

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“The Day After”

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No.3 Pylon

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Note failure of Diagonal Brace “end fitting”

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Golf Course Road

THE RECOVERY

• The importance of keeping the “Station Aircraft Recovery List” updated, including checking Emergency Contacts and Equipment Suppliers phone numbers.

• An assistant is required to keep notes during the initial Recovery planning period.

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Construction of a road to return to RWY 21L.

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Road constructed to allow unloading of aft cargo and parking of crane.

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Stabilising R/H wing to prevent A/C movement.

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Fuselage damage due to ingress of NLG Assy.

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“Classic” failure of R/H WLG.

ARRIVAL OF PARTS

• To ensure swift delivery of Parts, Materials and Tooling a Custom’s Agent must be engaged who has contacts at the HIGHEST LEVELS”. Arranging a “Custom’s Carnet” is of utmost importance to overcome “heavy” Customs Duties.

• To ensure these deliveries are completed with the utmost promptness, cooperation with all levels of the Airport Authority is required.

INCIDENT SITE SCRAP

• All scrap had to be collected for documentation.

• To conform to “Customs” regulations all parts and raw materials movements had to be thoroughly documented and presented to the Authorities for approval so as not to incur large Customs duties. This procedure was also required for all scrap material.

JANUARY 23 2000REPAIR BEGINS

• The Boeing Team begins the repair by first stabilising and “jigging” the Aircraft to prevent fuselage movement during the removal of the lower sections of Sections41 and 42.

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A/C was “tied” to the tail jack and the jack was cabled to the ground. Jack point was “drilled” to allow fitment of a rod between the jack adaptor and the jack point.

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Installation of “Tower Jacks”

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Fuselage “stabilisation” complete.

AIRCRAFT REPAIR BEGINS

• Removal of Section 41 and 42 begins.• Replacement of the damaged “window-

belt” has to be done before removal of the lower Section 41. This is to ensure the alignment of the Aircraft is maintained.

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“Window belt” repair.

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No.3 Pylon repair.

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“Wiring pull-back”

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“Wiring pull-back” completed.

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Sections 41/42 removed.

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“Aligning Sect.41.

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Installation of Sect.42 “plug”.

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“Final Alignment”

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Skin “finish” after repair.

STORES PERSONNEL

• A team of Stores Personnel was required to acquit all the Parts demands and to administer a Parts store to ensure a “smooth” production flow is maintained.

• Boeing were ordering “hundreds” of parts daily from Seattle and expecting 2 days delivery at the site.

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Mick Gledhill

DOCUMENTING AND CERTIFICATION

• To lessen the impact of the “cost” of the repair to QANTAS a lot of rotable parts were supplied by QANTAS. The Insurance Company will only pay “Market Price” for these parts.

• A Team of LAME’s were needed to document and certify these parts as a lot of the Parts were delivered straight from the Vendor. This included all the Landing Gear assembly’s.

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Mark Coffey

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First Engine installed by QANTAS LAME’s

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Zones 1 & 2 rework by QANTAS.

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A “few” of the 300+ F/G repairs to the L/E.

HI - BLOW TEST

• “Seats” all the rivets and frame joints.• Exposes any fuselage skin joints leakage.• Fuselage blown to 12.5 psid.

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“Hi-Blow” relief vlv.

ROLL-OUT AFTER REPAIR

• Rollout from Hangar after approx. 6 months.

• Due to publicity sensitivity the A/C had to be similar in appearance to other B744’s prior to “rollout”.

• The repaint of the repaired areas was achieved by “paint rollers”.

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Thorough wash before “functional checks begin”.

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Second Test Flt. Return.

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Taxi-In after 2nd Test Flt.return.

AFTER A/C DEPARTURE

• A/C Departs for Paint Facility in Xiamen.• Final Clean-up underway.

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Signing of “Certificate of Completion”.

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Departure for repaint at Xiamen, China.

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All scrap had to be disposed of so as to not arouse “Media” interest.

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Last shipment of scrap is loaded before returning the Hangar to Thai Airways.

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The crash site 6 months later. Note: the addition of landing lights.

THE END

VH-OJH RETURNED TO SERVICE AFTER REPAIR AND REPAINT

ON 8 APRIL 2000.