Description

On 10 January 2008, an Airbus A380 was damaged during push back at Singapore Changi International airport when the aircraft right wing undercarriage became stuck in soft ground adjacent to the taxiway.

Synopsis

"The Airbus A380 was scheduled for a passenger flight to Sydney on 10 January 2008. At 8.46 p.m. the aircraft was pushed back from Bay A4 at Singapore Changi Airport by a Schopf air tug. It was to be positioned on Taxiway WA facing south.

However, during the pushback, the right hand wing landing gear departed from the paved taxiway and went over a concrete airfield lighting transformer box onto the grass verge adjacent to Taxiway WA. Part of the right hand body landing gear also left the paved taxiway. When the air tug driver realised that the aircraft had gone onto the unpaved ground, he tried to pull it back onto the taxiway. During the pulling, the fuse pins attaching the towing pin to the nose gear of the aircraft sheared."

Cause

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore included the following findings in the report: