Aviation Photo #1293784 Airbus A340-642 - Etihad Airways

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Aircraft

Etihad Airways
Airbus A340-642

Reg.: F-WWCJ

MSN: 856

Location & Date

Toulouse - Blagnac (TLS / LFBO)
France - November 16, 2007

Caption

An Airbus A340-600 due to be delivered to Etihad Airways jumped its chocks during an engine test at Toulouse on 15th November. The nose went up and through a blast fence.

Photographer

Zubova Marina

1 Spain

Contact Zubova Marina

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Distinct Views: 1,432,708
Photo Added: November 16, 2007

Comments (164)

Anonymous

15 years ago

Wow first the Iberian Airlines A340 skids off the runway and then this, not a good week for this model line

Anonymous

15 years ago

A very bad fortune for A340-600 within few days, this is the second one!!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a sad sight, an airplane cracked like a nutshell

Anonymous

15 years ago

What an impressive view that is! Glad to hear that there are no fatalities.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Unfortunately i had to rate this picture with 5 stars. Its sad to see this "virgin" beauty banged up like that. In my opinion, the 346 is the most beautiful of the whole Airbus family. But im glad everyone is ok - the lucky 340 crash streak continues. Regards Nitin (India)

Anonymous

15 years ago

Great timing of a magnificent machine.i betetihad r really mad now

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a pity... that is bad - oh my god, i am really shocked! such a beautiful aircraft destroyed so early :( i hope the 5 injured people are okay!

Anonymous

15 years ago

My goodness. Crashed even before delivery. Sad view.

Anonymous

15 years ago

A very sad sight. My thoughts go out to the injured workers and their families, may they make a speedy recovery.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad, very sad view, as thats the second accident for an A346 this month :(.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ouch- I hope the insurance will pay

Anonymous

15 years ago

Not a good time for A340-600s this week. First Quito and then this

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a waste of a beautiful bird!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Superbe photo et rare... On ne voit pas souvant ce genre de scène à Toulouse

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad ending for this A340.I hope no one was seriously injured.

Anonymous

15 years ago

I tnhing is good photo because are a plane crash

Anonymous

15 years ago

Wow!, Such a sad sight to see a brand new plane damaged like that. Looks like it was a pretty violent accident. Hope injuries are minor.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Heavens!!!! Are you kidding me....That's a brand new plane that was just destroyed.

Anonymous

15 years ago

And I thought that I was having a bad day.

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a shame- that plane is f***d! Thank God no fatalities.

Anonymous

15 years ago

November is not a good month for A340-600...

Anonymous

15 years ago

Oh my God! Terrible scene!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Thx for the photo! I hope Airbus be more careful next time.

Anonymous

15 years ago

OMG! a nightmear in Bikini

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ouch, those engines must be mighty powerful to jump the chocks,
i wonder who is paying for the damage, and if airbus will give a new a40 to Etihad

Anonymous

15 years ago

That is a truly sad picture. Such a beautiful plane, and such a sad fate.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Thats really sad.

Anonymous

15 years ago

It seems it's on the chopping block to be beheaded... Amazing.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Such a sad site to see! Rumour has it, that the aircraft is a write-off :(

Anonymous

15 years ago

I guess the engines worked ok. Too bad the chocks didn't. In fact the engines might be one of the few things salvagable from this wreck. Glad there were no fatalities.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Great shot. Also the first where I can see the front section. In the news of our local radio station they said, that they needed about 8 hours to stop one engine.

Anonymous

15 years ago

OMG! Very shocking shot. Leaves me speechless. T.B.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Very rare and bizarre accident. Sadly this brand new airliner is a write-off.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ooops!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Nice shot. Very sad cause that's a new bridy

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a shame to see such a beautiful aircraft in one of the worlds best liveries,destroyed before anyone gets to fly her,airbus have some questions to answer i think

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad to See A Beautiful Bird Like This In That Condition. Hope Its Not A Complete Writeoff But judgeing By Where the Cockpit Is now who Knows. P.S an Airbus Spokesperson reported that nine on board were injured and one person on the ground so 10 people injured in total.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Right place right time - for photographer!
Sorry for A'Bus and the injured guys, lessons learnt we hope
Paul

Anonymous

15 years ago

This must have been something to see! Wonder if it will show up on You-Tube.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Oh My God!! scary shot there!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Holy..

I thought this bird was a scrap photo on the thumbnail.. Hope the people injured come out okay. All I can say is, good timing.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad but true...

Anonymous

15 years ago

OH NO! What a shame. This makes me slightly suicidal.

--Veeshal

Anonymous

15 years ago

That HAS to be one of the earliest write-offs ever.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Oops !! looks like someone had a bad day at the office !! how do you explain that one to the boss ??

Anonymous

15 years ago

Whoops! it's a goodthing there were only injuries that could've been a lot worse. hopefully etihad gets a refund.

Anonymous

15 years ago

The three most important things in regard to any aircraft engine-run are, brake pressure, brake pressure, brake pressure. Everything else is optional extras.

Anonymous

15 years ago

WHAT A WASTE!!! I'm still in shock just looking at the picture that NO ONE was killed. This picture is great in that it so sureal it looks like a model display. Great catch of a not so great moment!

Anonymous

15 years ago

I know one of the guys that was on the plane, he's called wango and he's fine. Lucky eh

Anonymous

15 years ago

I am still wondering whether the results of a roots analysis will be soon published !

Anonymous

15 years ago

Personally I think its still salvageable.....Not!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

A classic!!!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

This picture is amazing! I do find it hard to believe that it simply jumped its chocks, though. An engine run-up test should obviously have the brakes set as well, at this picture proves why . . . Something mechanical must have failed with the brakes or a pre-test procedure wasn't followed.

Anonymous

15 years ago

This photo is so much better than any I have seen. Very detailed and able to see clearly where the front of the plane is completely gone.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad to see it snuffed out before delivery.

Anonymous

15 years ago

What an amazing picture. It sure is a bad month for A340-600s. It really is such a shame to see such a new bird in such horrible shape.

Anonymous

15 years ago

What a waste! :'(

Anonymous

15 years ago

First Iberia, then Etihad.
Who's next?

Anonymous

15 years ago

I hear a third world airline is interested in purchasing the aircraft now.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Same incident as the Iberia A340-600, which overshot the runway. Both Etihad and Iberia A340-600 are damaged. They have lost against their competitor B777-300ER.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Awesome pic showing what happens when an expensive piece of equipment is left in the hands of idiots!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Should have jumped higher!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Truly a shame. thank heavens there were no fatalities

Anonymous

15 years ago

Thanks for the pic.
Get well soon to all injured employees.

Anonymous

15 years ago

^^ Well, Boeing might have better brakes, but Airbus has the better planes :-)

Anonymous

15 years ago

Indeed more than one must have made a BIG mistake for this to happen. As always, accidents are the sum of thousands of little mishaps. I must say however, the comment saying that this is why Boeing is King is Bullsh..

Anonymous

15 years ago

Very good foto

Anonymous

15 years ago

Bunch of whiners! Drag it off, cut the damage off, stop drill the cracks, turn it into a mini A340.

Anonymous

15 years ago

I am not the smartest guy in the world, but I have been an aircraft mechanic for 11 years. Aren't you supposed to do engine runs with the nose AWAY from the blast fence???

Anonymous

15 years ago

Gosh!!! It is the Ex-Thai(HS-TNA) Which is the plane model I bought.

Anonymous

15 years ago

There is something wrong in this ground run procedure. Normally for full power run ups the airplane is anchored to the ground with steel cables. Just chocks and brakes are not enough. Also during a ground run the blast deflectors are supposed to be behind the engine. This airplane is pointing the wrong way. Obviously there is more to the story. Hope Airbus comes out with a detailed report.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Our best wishes to those Five persons were injured.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Great and amazing.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Bad day for Airbus and Etihad. Power- and beautiful plane destroyed. Any other pictures online or maybe a video?

Anonymous

15 years ago

I've seen something like this in vancouver, an a310 jump the shocks to hit the hanger. if you do a run-up with an airbus air mode you dont have brake, parking brake, reverse and steering, airbus phylosophie you dont need all this if your in the air. mistakes do appen

Anonymous

15 years ago

Wow – safety is our number one focus and this looks like someone overlooked a critical detail when testing. My best wishes go out to those who got hurt and to there families. This was a costly check out in many ways; I hope airbus investigates this toughly so to prevent another occurrence.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Etihad would probably get another one. obviously its wasnt their fault...unless they wanted to check the thing by themselves to make sure :)

Anonymous

15 years ago

So sad, I can't believe it. The second accident for A346 this month :((

Anonymous

15 years ago

Way beyound believe

Anonymous

15 years ago

Impessive

Anonymous

15 years ago

The light, the drab colouring for what is a very sad sight portrays the mood.

Anonymous

15 years ago

The tail section, four engines, landing gears and perhaps the wingbox are salvageable, the frame itself is definitely a WO. The cockpit is ... AWOL.

Anonymous

15 years ago

This plane is perhaps the first A340-600 out of service, and at a operating cost of a few million dollars per hour since completition.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Terrible waste of resources. This a/c is going to be officially written off, but it was insured by Airbus, so Etihad is fine.

Anonymous

15 years ago

A superb "early-retirement" of the A340-600.

Anonymous

15 years ago

This is good for spare parts, and yes it can be repaired...costly and sad that this happened, someone is being fired for this, be assured!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Great picture, well done...

As for the comment below "That's why boeing is king"... It's a pity that in this person's mind, Boeing (spelt with a capital letter by the way) stands much taller on the debris of other aircraft - The world is big enough for both...

Surely the Airbus/Boeing debate should remain light-hearted and encourage excellent aircraft design & healthy competitiveness across the world, not descend into sneering and laughing at other people's mistakes and injuries. It's possible this was an accident caused by 'human error', not the aircraft itself.

Any accident that a person can walk away from is the best type, and I for one, wish them a speedy recovery.

Anonymous

15 years ago

I think that you should be careful on what you are writing. An accident is always a bad thing and you should not fell happy about it...

Anonymous

15 years ago

Anonymous

15 years ago

Realy sharp focus. the figures give scale to the incident. pity the cropping or original capture did not include more of the nose section.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ouch..seems that RR engines are actually very powerful..
I think at least 2 or 3 engines, tail, APU or wings are savageable..

Anonymous

15 years ago

Well done , gracias ,

Anonymous

15 years ago

Quite a few armchair troubleshooters claiming low brake pressure. brake pressure doesn't help if you don't monitor your minimum fuel weights and the tires break traction. so many factors, maybe we should all let the investigators investigate. photo is excellent showing what can happen when little factors line up to give a bunch of good guys a bad day.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Guys/Gals - this is the 3rd A340-600 mishap this month, an SAA A346 buried its nosegear into the sand in Cape Town while trying to backtrack, then Quito, and now this sad waste of a beautiful plane. What a month - but that should be it now - bad luck happens in threes!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Obviously a major malfunction

Anonymous

15 years ago

If they kept the brake pressure, nothing would have happened... but: because the brake pressure decreased the engines at full throtle caused a nose up movement... luckily there was a wall right after the airplane: can you imagine what it could have caused without the wall? A full throtle aircraft without brakes ''shaving'' around the airport could have costed lives.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Don't think that anything could be saved off this aircraft. By the way you can see the left wing tip, shows that it may have made contact with the wall this is why the right wing is lower. Shame for Airbus and Etihad - hope the injured are ok.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ouch! What a misfurtune & mishandling.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Sad to see a beauty of a bird like this in this shape. Still it's in this shape even a bigger beauty
then a boeing!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

:S so sad to see all of the first class suites go and all of the luxury equipment. Glad no one was hirt though

Anonymous

15 years ago

A beautiful picture but a bad day for the financial director of Airbus !

Anonymous

15 years ago

Great picture. Glad it wasn't a 747.

Anonymous

15 years ago

The best!

Anonymous

15 years ago

The gloomy blue-ish light really puts the sad feeling into this shot. It's a bad situation; but a good shot of it.

Those people talking about jumping the chocks: Two recent telex messages from Airbus have stated that this aircraft was NOT chocked (confirmed), contrary to procedures. Second Airbus states that all four engines were running at high power (EPR 1.24-1.26, confirmed) which again is contrary to procedures stating only one engine at a time (plus a little power on the other wing for symmetry).

Also the late response time to retard to idle was pointed out: 9 seconds from initial movement. The crew were aware of movement, since after 2 seconds they pressed brakes manually and released parking brake, appearantly leaving the engines at high power at this stage.

It is not clear who had responsability for the run; Airbus is not confirming that it is them. There was Etihad staff present so it is possibly them (unconfirmed). For sure, some people are going to be in some heavy reviews about this.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Ouch! I simply can't stop looking at the pic, let alone think what is salvageable or not... I'm sure there's got to be some sort of insurance.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Is there people inside? I wish not!

Anonymous

15 years ago

These things happen theres nothing we can do about it but as long as no one was hurt then its ok but if someone was hurt my heart goes out to them

Anonymous

15 years ago

I hope they got a new one!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Here you see how to waste a bright new plane, its soooo sad :( I hope they used some parts for other A340s

Anonymous

15 years ago

A whole new airplane ended like this too bad

Anonymous

15 years ago

Wow! too bad the airplane had to end like this.
It didn't even get to carry a single person (besides Airbus). I'm just glad no one was hurt.
it's too bad that in 2 weeks the same airplane crashed. I just hope this doesn't happen to another airplane!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Wow!!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

They have a small problem...
Great shot!!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Just think. You work for ethiad and you're all excited about getting a brand new 340, watching the engine test...then....BAAAMMM. No more plane for you. sucks

Anonymous

15 years ago

Now, correct me if I'm wrong; but shouldn't the blast fence be BEHIND an aircraft during testing, and not in front of it ??? Just a thought !!

Anonymous

15 years ago

Everybody have bad days, in this case the poor airbus was turned into junk RIP.
But the shot is still cool

Anonymous

15 years ago

Come on! We all would love to be there. Just think on the sound!!!

Anonymous

15 years ago

The photo is crisp and detailed...just the right angle too. Its also proof that just because you can ride a camel, doesn't mean that your qualified to do this !

Anonymous

15 years ago

Good example to show how powerful the engines are, and why not to run them all at full power while only chocked.

To answer a question/comment below, usually (always) there is at least one person in the cockpit to 'rev' the engines.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Actually there are 2 blast walls facing each other, that's why the plane could crash into it. MSN 856 ist still at the airbus site, hidden in a hangar. They haven't decided what to do of it yet.

Anonymous

15 years ago

Very clear shot. What lens/camera was used? From an A&P Mechanic who helped rebuild some wrecks, most is salvageable I'd imagine. We took the nose off a similarly damaged A/C. Mfgr can do computer stress analysis and identify stress points to change. Most of airframe can be re-used as is Ldg gear, systems, engines etc. Much inspection work is required and stringers and skin and some bulkheads to be replaced where heavy damage is, along with possibly doublers added for strength. Cockpit is probably trash, but if crew survived then possibly all instrumentation and much avionics can be reinspected on a bench and recertified. You'd be surprised. As an ATP rated in an airliner that was rebuilt I flew the airliner that was rebuilt on its first flight and it flew like a new A/C. Flew straight and no one would know it was ever damaged, except that it was the only one of its kind that had a special belly doubler where the fuselage "cracked" open and was obvious as it was a mirror finish due to special aluminum and you could comb your hair in the reflection as it shone like Air Force One!

Anonymous

14 years ago

Sad pic for me.i love Etihad Airways

Anonymous

14 years ago

This is why I always sit at the BACK of the plane ;)

Anonymous

14 years ago

Wow. this is just too much pain to bear. that could have been mine, except for the crash aspect. wonderful machine, too bad its no more

Anonymous

14 years ago

This is great!

Anonymous

14 years ago

According to Aviation Safety Network...
Airplane damage:Destroyed
Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
"The wheels were not chocked when the crew started engine and brake tests at 15:19"

Anonymous

14 years ago

Sad fate for a beautiful bird. What can i say?

Anonymous

14 years ago

What is that sucks for the people that work on it

Anonymous

14 years ago

Great foto, you really can see the destruction.
Why did they use the parking brake instead of disengage it and use the pedals?! Major error any way.

Anonymous

14 years ago

Excellent photo - Not so excellent crew

Anonymous

14 years ago

Why. why did it have to happen to such a beautiful bird :(:(:(
why not a a380. they're ugly. not the beautiFul one!!!

Anonymous

14 years ago

Message from Airbus to Etihad: We regret to inform you that delivery of your new A340 will be delayed.

Anonymous

14 years ago

This aircraft was part of an order for 8 A340-600. Because of this accident, Etihad announced July 8,2009 that 1 aircraft is cut from the order.

Anonymous

14 years ago

An Etihad spokesman said the canceled order related to an aircraft which rammed into a concrete wall during engine testing at the planemaker's Toulouse headquarters in November 2007, injuring 9 people including 4 seriously.

Anonymous

14 years ago

Guess its not a jump jet!!

Anonymous

14 years ago

Great Photo! Bad plane! I think it

Anonymous

13 years ago

Very Nice,Sad for the peepz onboard.

That was a bit stupid though because
it plummeted straight into it on
landing before ripping the Cockpit!
Looks like a sad day for the
Pilots.

Anonymous

13 years ago

Wow that's an expensive mistake! Such a shame. Excellent photo though.

Anonymous

13 years ago

This aircraft did not jump chocks - there were no chocks installed prior to engine run up. an untrained member of ground maintenance crew took all 4 engines to MCT- causing the take off config warning to sound... Then.. one of the crew decided to pull the GPWS aural alarm breaker - however this defeated the air/ground logic, telling the a/c it was in the air. Thus the brakes were all released, (safety feature to stop the a/c landing with the brakes on). The engines remained at MCT for just under 10 seconds - they were not retarded prior to hitting the wall.

expensive error there.

Anonymous

13 years ago

Cool. :)

Anonymous

13 years ago

This photo just shows that although the same testing has been done before, time and time again, there is always maybe that margin of error that can cause a US$200 million accident. I hope that if there was anyone in the cockpit, that they were OK as there is no mention of this.

Anonymous

13 years ago

A picture is worth 1,000 words. I think this is what check lists are for. It really could happen to any of us.

Anonymous

13 years ago

I think that it losts the head =P

Anonymous

13 years ago

Wow! A totaled plane, from a cement wall...I wonder what would have happened to it, had it crashed into a cement building?!

Anonymous

13 years ago

A mistake worth millions. to sad. Month Old I think. and I guess that the airbus employees who worked on this bird is upset. blood and sweat, destroyed in seconds

Anonymous

13 years ago

Wow looks like Airbus lost millions...

Anonymous

13 years ago

Sad to see this bird in this shape. Great pic however.

Anonymous

12 years ago

Someone can say me what hepened with the pilot?

Anonymous

12 years ago

Perfect shot of accident scene

Anonymous

12 years ago

Who is writing the rules and carrying out these pre-delivery checks? Also, sounds like a culture of complacency where whistle-blowing and speaking up is discouraged. Needs further investigation at the company level. It's a miracle nobody was killed.

Anonymous

12 years ago

You hear so many stories within the aircraft industry about test failures many untrue but you can not deny this one. i believe it was an adat crew

Anonymous

12 years ago

Now thats a very sad incident there, sorry for the ppl inside ... If this plane was not choked before engine run up then its a very serious mistake there by Airbus. Whatever happened to the safety procedures they had to follow ? Anyways i think this plane is still salvageable as the fuselage is built in Sections so its easy to replace the nose section but have to rewire the whole plane not to mention all the controls coming from the cockpit which will take months. Its gonna take months before this big bird can fly again.

Anonymous

12 years ago

When you think you are having a bad day at work...hope no one was injured. I like the fact that you got the two people by the horizontal stabilizer...gives one a good size comparision! ***** Wayne C.

Anonymous

12 years ago

Millions of dollars lost? No worries. To make up for this, our petrol prices go up!

Anonymous

12 years ago

Capture!what a sad loss of such a beautiful a/c.

Anonymous

11 years ago

A lot of people called this incident : The first A340 broke the sound barrier. :)

Anonymous

11 years ago

Why was this hidden so well? Are they embarrassed that they sell planes to people that do not know how to fly them?

Anonymous

11 years ago

This sure was repair and is now flying, sad lost of lives, how can they have that barrier in an airport?

Anonymous

11 years ago

Please Pay Attention; This wasn't done by pilots. This was the result of an engine run by some less than knowledgeable mechanics. There is a detailed description farther down.