B773, Lisbon Portugal, 2016

B773, Lisbon Portugal, 2016

Summary

On 13 January 2016 ice was found on the upper and lower wing surfaces of a Boeing 777-300ER about to depart in the late morning from Lisbon in CAVOK conditions and 10°C. As Lisbon had no de-ice facilities, it was towed to a location where the sun would melt the ice more quickly but during poorly-planned manoeuvring, one of the wingtips was damaged by contact with an obstruction. The Investigation attributed the ice which led to the problematic re-positioning to the operator’s policy of tankering most of the return fuel on the overnight inbound flight where it had become cold-soaked.

Description

On 13 January 2016, a Boeing 777-300ER (D2-TEI) being operated by TAAG (Angolan Airlines) on a scheduled international passenger flight from Lisbon to Luanda was fully boarded and ready to depart when an external inspection by the Captain found ice on both the upper and lower wing surfaces which rendered the aircraft unable to depart so the aircraft was towed to a ramp where there was greater exposure to the sun during which manoeuvre the underside of the right side wingtip hit a jet blast deflector. None of the 278 occupants were injured.

The aircraft wing in contact with the blast deflector at the edge of the Multi Purpose Ramp. [Reproduced from the Official Report]

Investigation

The event was notified to the Portuguese Accident Investigation Agency (the GPIAA) which carried out an Investigation. It was noted that the aircraft was a Class E type for which ICAO Annex 14 prescribes a minimum of 3.75 metres between an aircraft on any part of a designated stand and any object as long as all obstacles are clear of the engine ingestion danger area. The ramp where the collision occurred was approved for engine ground running or the parking of aircraft up to Class E and was equipped with a perimeter blast deflector.

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