Yesterday, a British Airways Airbus A380 damaged the taxiway in Chateauroux, France. Three-quarters of the British flag carrier’s A380 fleet is now in long term storage at the French airport amid a global decline in the aviation industry.
It’s been an unlucky week for British Airways. On Tuesday, one of the airline’s shiny new Airbus A350s collided with an Emirates 777 while being pushed back in Dubai. Now one of its Airbus A380s has damaged a taxiway in Chateauroux.
What happened?
British Airways’ Airbus A380 G-XLED has torn up the edge of a taxiway at France’s Chateauroux Airport. British Airways uses the airport for training. However, it has also now become a spot to store the Giant of the skies.
G-XLED departed from London Heathrow at 08:32 BST yesterday morning. Following a short hop south, it arrived in Chateauroux at 10:30 CEST, according to FlightRadar24.com.
Upon arrival in Chateauroux, the aircraft was marshaled into position along with the other Airbus A380s at the airport. However, while the plane was moved into place, it rolled onto an area outside of the taxiway that was not strong enough to support the heavy Giant.
Simple Flying believes that the nose gear caused the damage as the aircraft was turning to park at an angle on the taxiway. We’ve included a rough diagram to illustrate this below.
However, at this time, it remains unconfirmed which wheels dug into the surface. Thankfully, the aircraft didn’t get stuck and was able to taxi out of the hole it had created.
In a statement to Simple Flying, the airport’s General Manager said: