Bangkok - An Airbus A380 test flight from Bangkok to Chiang
Mai was delayed Saturday after the mammoth aircraft's left winglet
was crushed while backing out of its parking space at Suvarnabhumi
Airport.
The accident was caused by the Thai Airways International (THAI)
push-back operator who clipped the hanger, crumpling the A380's left
winglet, as he backed the aircraft onto the tarmac for scheduled
morning departure.
'This sort of thing happens every day, in every airport around the
world,' said Edouard Ullmo, Airbus' executive vice president of sales
for Asia Pacific.
Airbus decided to remove both winglets, designed to stabilize the
aircraft in heavy turbulence, before resuming the flight to Chiang
Mai Saturday afternoon.
'We can fly with one winglet or no winglets,' said Ullmo. 'This
is standard procedure.'
Saturday's test flight to Chiang Mai, a popular tourist
destination situated 560 kilometres north of Bangkok, was the second
stopover in the kingdom for the A380.
THAI has ordered six of the planes, the world's largest.
The Chiang Mai flight was designed to disprove criticisms that
the massive A380, with a wingspan of 79 metres, was too large for
most airports.
'We want to prove with the flight to Chiang Mai that the A380 is
capable to operate also on so-called secondary airports,' said Ullmo.
Instead, the test flight has revealed some on-going operational
problems at Thailand's largest international airport, Suvarnabhumi,
which was just opened for commercial flights in September, last year.
The new airport has been plagued with numerous teething problems,
including cracks found on the taxiways shortly after opening, missing
baggage and insufficient bathrooms.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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