Description

On 18 June 2021, a Boeing 787-8 (G-ZBJB) being operated by British Airways was being loaded for a cargo flight at Heathrow in normal day visibility whilst a line engineering team carried out checks required to permit despatch with a fault affecting the normal function of the Nose Landing Gear (NLG) bay doors. The check required cycling the landing gear with the locking pins inserted so that only the bay doors cycled but when this was done, the nose gear retracted and the front of aircraft dropped to the ground causing significant damage to the airframe and minor injuries to the First Officer and one of the cargo loading team.

The front of the aircraft following inadvertent retraction of the nose landing gear. [Reproduced from the Official Report]