A nearly new Boeing 787-9 operated by experienced a nose landing gear collapse while parked at a gate at Frankfurt Airport on Thursday, potentially causing damage to the aircraft, Bloomberg reported.
According to an airport spokesperson, the incident occurred Thursday morning, and no passengers were on board at the time.
Images shared on the Reddit site showed the aircraft named after the German city of Herne slouched on the tarmac at the gate, its front gear retracted and rescue services surrounding the plane. The plane’s right front cargo door was flipped open, with a service vehicle used to load goods onto the aircraft attached, Bloomberg reported.
A spokesman for Lufthansa said the airline has assembled a crisis team to review the incident and study the next steps. It wasn’t immediately clear if the mishap was due to human error or a possible defect.
The incident is an unusual system failure for a plane built only last year, and which entered into service in February, according to data from FlightRadar24. The aircraft was due to operate a flight to Los Angeles from Frankfurt on Thursday, FlightRadar24 data shows.
Lufthansa’s rollout of the Boeing 787 has been significantly delayed due to certification issues related to its new Allegris business-class seats. Despite these setbacks, the airline continues to operate a diverse fleet comprising both Boeing and Airbus aircraft, including the iconic Boeing 747 jumbo jet—which is no longer in production—and the more modern Airbus A350.
Last month, Lufthansa placed an order for 10 additional Airbus A350-900s and 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as part of its fleet renewal strategy, replacing older aircraft. The airline currently operates around a dozen Dreamliners, with more scheduled for delivery, Bloomberg reported.
The is equipped with landing gear manufactured by Safran Landing Systems, formerly known as Messier-Dowty. Its landing gear configuration includes two main landing gear assemblies, each fitted with four wheels, along with a twin-wheel nose landing gear.
The aircraft typically seats approximately 260 passengers in a three-class layout and has a range of about 8,300 nautical miles.
(With inputs from Bloomberg.)
