A380 vs. Embraer's Building

A380 vs. Embraer’s Building

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

An Airbus A380 demo aircraft struck Embraer's building at the Paris Air Show, preventing it from flying.
This incident is similar to a previous occurrence at JFK where an Air France A380 clipped another aircraft, suggesting the super jumbo's large wingspan presents taxiing challenges.
In both collisions, pilots reportedly followed ground instructions, resulting in significant damage to the aircraft or structures, but no injuries.

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It was well known on opening day at the Paris Air Show that the Airbus A380 demo plane had “brushed” a building and wouldn’t be able to fly but it wasn’t clear exactly what had happened. Well, the accompanying photos, which are circulating on the Internet but appear to have originated at AirlineReporter.com, give a little context to the conflict between giant airliner and building. That’s Embraer’s building getting the renovation, by the way. The aircraft was moved under its own power to a discrete area of the airport where Airbus officials who aren’t busy selling airplanes are plotting their next move. Airbus says the pilots followed Le Bourget ground instructions for taxiing but it’s not the first time the super jumbo hasn’t been able to keep its wings to itself with the nosewheel on the centerline.

As we reported in April and Air France A380 taxiing with confidence at JFK clipped the tail of a Comair CRJ 700. Again, the super jumbo was proceeding as directed. In both cases, there were no injuries but the damage appears significant.

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