Hong Kong B744 near Hong Kong on Jun 7th 2014, wing panel fractured in flight

Last Update: July 5, 2016 / 20:44:41 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 7, 2014

Classification
Accident

Aircraft Registration
B-HUS

Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400

ICAO Type Designator
B744

An Air Hong Kong Boeing 747-400, registration B-HUS performing freight flight LD-782 from Hong Kong to Shanghai Pudong (China), had just reached FL310 when the crew felt strong vibrations of the airframe without any related instrument readings. The crew decided to return to Hong Kong where the aircraft landed safely about 25 minutes later. A post flight inspection revealed the inboard aft panel of the left hand wing had fractured.

The aircraft was out of service for repairs until Jun 14th 2014.

The airline's parent company Cathay Pacific confirmed the crew felt unusual vibrations of the airframe prompting them to return to Hong Kong as a safety precaution. Another aircraft carried the cargo to Shanghai.

In 2016 The Aviation Herald received information that delamination of the wing panel was identified as cause of the fracture. The issue had been known already, Boeing had issued a service bulletin in 1994 offering replacement of the panels or regular inspection. The operators of (later) B-HUS and B-HUR had decided for the inspection option. Soon after B-HUR was also found with deterioration of the wing panel like B-HUS.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 7, 2014

Classification
Accident

Aircraft Registration
B-HUS

Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400

ICAO Type Designator
B744

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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