International   

Superjumbo rolls off tarmac; damage “superficial”

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines’ A380 superjumbo jet sustained superficial damage when it rolled onto grass as it left an airport terminal in the first glitch for the world’s biggest passenger plane since going into service in October, the airline said on Friday.

The plane was getting ready to depart from Singapore’s Changi Airport to Sydney late on Thursday. It was carrying 446 passengers who disembarked, and no injuries were reported, the airline said. “The damage is very limited, it’s superficial in the sense that there is possibly damage to tyres, but nothing to the structure of the aircraft,” said Singapore Airlines. The aircraft rolled onto the grass off the tarmac after a truck that was pushing the plane failed and disconnected from the plane. The plane was not running on its own power at the time, said the airline in a statement.

Singapore Airlines is the launch customer of the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, and there is only one such plane in service so far. It began daily flights from Singapore to Sydney in October. “The engineers are still doing a very careful inspection of the plane. They’re being very careful because it’s the first time and they just want to be very sure,” said the airlines. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Chavez wins freedom for Colombian hostages
China to limit use of plastic bags
Shots at Benazir fired from a .30 gun: report
Diana killed for anti-mine campaign?
Sarkozy’s wife loses book case
Hamas rejects Bush’s promises
Superjumbo rolls off tarmac; damage “superficial”
The world’s tributes
Oil from algae a solution?
33-year-old woman spends months disguised as boy
Malaysian Indian leader shot dead

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu