At London Heathrow Airport (LHR), a wing panel from a landing Boeing 747 freighter was discovered in a grassy area near the runway. After an investigation, it was determined that the panel had been there for more than two months, having separated from a One Air 747-400 freighter that landed in early January 2024.
Two months later, a wing panel from a Boeing 747 freighter was found at Heathrow.
According to a report from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), an upper left wing panel was discovered on a patch of grass near Heathrow’s Runway 27, around 600 metres west of the runway threshold.
On March 7th, 2024, the piece was taken to the AAIB for investigation, and it was discovered to be an upper wing panel from a Boeing 747; following inquiries revealed that a One Air Boeing 747-400BDSF had arrived at Heathrow more than two months earlier with this panel missing from its left wing.
The One Air flight landed at Heathrow on January 6th, 2024. Initially, the flight crew was unaware that anything had fallen off their aircraft, but it was discovered during turnaround inspections before the plane left.
Given the position, the investigation concludes that the wing panel most likely detached after impact when the spoilers were deployed.
According to the AAIB, the detachment was most likely caused by “fatigue cracking of its supporting rib,” which is known to shatter easily. In 2010, Boeing published a revised Service Letter directing operators on how to prevent cracking, warning that “continued crack growth can cause complete fracture of the rib.”
Concern about foreign objects and debris
According to Boeing’s assessment of the safety implications of a detached wing panel, there is a low possibility that it will compromise flight safety, either by damaging the aircraft or piercing the fuselage and hurting passengers.
However, the chance of generating runway foreign object debris (FOD) is significantly higher, however Boeing deems this “not to be a safety concern” because it is addressed by existing airport FOD identification and clearing methods.
London Heathrow Airport features a powerful FOD radar detection system that can pick up trash as small as a screw. However, this system only monitors the concrete runway surface and not the grassy regions around the runways, which explains why this component went missing for two months.
Heathrow Airport Holdings, LHR’s operator, stated that because it was winter, the grass sections were not mowed as frequently; nonetheless, if they had been, the missing part would have been detected sooner.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) briefing in 2018, 21 airports globally have identical FOD detection systems, with 19 of them capable of landing Boeing 747s.
However, the AAIB research acknowledges that not all airports capable of handling the 747 will have such systems in place, emphasizing the importance of appropriate airport FOD safeguards.
While the airline filed a Mandatory Occurrence Report with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), it did not submit a report to the AAIB because the 2010 Boeing Service Letter says that the detachment of this part is not a safety risk.
Foreign object debris is a significant safety risk; yet, a piece the size of a wing panel would have been detected by Heathrow’s radar systems if it remained on the runway.
Regarding the 747 freighter involved.
The aircraft involved in this incident is a 33-year-old Boeing 747-400BDSF registered G-UNET. The aircraft flew with Air Canada as a passenger airliner for nearly 15 years until being converted into a cargo in 2005.
One Air is a British freight airline that began operations in July 2023 and is based at East Midlands Airport. It now flies three Boeing 747 freighters and wants to add two Boeing 777Fs.