How does a catering vehicle make contact with a widebody jet, in this case, a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000? An episode at New York JFK Airport left me wondering what possibly could have happened to cause such an impact. We now have an answer.
Catering Vehicle Wedged Under Virgin Atlantic A350-100 Engine At JFK
Yesterday, a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 (review here in Upper Class) was set to make a daytime crossing from New York to London. The aircraft was eight years old, with registration number G-VDOT.
But that flight never departed after a catering vehicle (what appears to be a supervisor’s car) ran into the aircraft’s left $25 million Rolls Royce Trent XWB-97 engine (thanks to JonNYC for flagging this).
What could have caused this? There were a number of theories:
- pushback accident
- pilots did not see vehicle
- rampers failed to take note of it
- driver of catering vehicle forgot to put car into “park” before jumping out
- catering driver using phone
- medical emergency
As it turns out, Virgin Atlantic confirmed it was a driver error:
Yesterday’s VS26 from New York JFK to London Heathrow was cancelled following an incident at the gate at JFK involving the engine cowling of a stationary Virgin Atlantic aircraft and a catering service provider’s car that rolled into it. We can confirm that no customers were on board the aircraft during this time.
I happened to be at JFK this morning and saw the aircraft still sitting there (I am not flying out of Terminal 3, so I was not able to get a closer look). At this point, it is not clear if the impact just caused some cosmetic damage that can be buffed out or if there is more serious damage…I expect we might know more later today.
One time I was in Ireland traveling through beautiful County Kerry and pulled into a gas station to fill up the car. After the fuel pump clicked, I turned on the car (halfway) to check if the fuel guage registered fuel. But this little car with a manual transmission took off and plowed into the car in front of me (one of the many reasons I prefer automatic transmission). Thankfully, it was a light bump and the good-natured guy did not make a big deal about it…
My point is that accidents can happen. But it appears the driver was just careless at JFK, just like I was; all I can say is let this be a reminder to us all…
image: NicotineRosberg / Reddit
Ah yes a “diver” error. Must have been the scuba tank disengaged the brake.
Most amusing to watch female pilots backing up whilst leaving the gate with reverse thrust .
Female tank drivers usually reverse back into the front of the next tank in line .
Diver error?!?! At the AIRPORT?!?!? Now I’ve seen everything!
Ramp workers driving vehicles into airplanes happens a lot more often than you might think. It’s often called “ramp rash.”
Incidentally, preventing this is why U.S. airlines do not board A321s from the 2L door like 757s and most widebodies. It’s so close to the engine that there is a serious concern of the jet bridge operator driving the bridge into the #1 engine.
The driver was likely trying to sneak a meat platter onto the airline that believes you should eat only sustainable food. It’s going to cost Gategourmet a lot of dough.
Time to take away the driving privileges of Brandon and his minions who crossed over. Total incompetence. Being on the runway and unable to navigate a vehicle around a massive stationary object really equates to Driving In Error.
Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe for us to assume that you were not flying out of T3, considering it was torn down a while back. 🙂 I assume you meant T4.
The van driver will receive the mandatory drug/urine test per protocol & then the incident will be noted on their record, They will be retrained, suspended per investigation, or terminated. Usually, when a pushback tractor driver turns the aircraft past the safety line painted on the aircraft that warns that the turn might damage the front gear & they damage it, it’s called the “Unemployment Line”.
With 40+ years and going with a manual, I can’t figure out your accident. Nothing like that ever happened to me.
Shift lock in cars in many countries prevent starting without the clutch ‘depressed.’ HOWEVER, in many OTHER countries, this doesn’t apply, so those who use the transmission to keep the car in place when the engine is off (not using the parking brake and transmission in neutral) means when they turn the key to ignition, they may get a surprise jolt, if they haven’t pushed in the clutch.
YMMV
Ireland will be using EU standards – if the car is in gear, it’s not moving.
Apologies – reading comprehension fail! It’s about jolting on startup, not rolling away after parking. This has actually happened to me a couple of times, thankfully without touching anything else.
The results of diversity hiring.
This incident was a complete inconvenience to the passagengers on this canceled flight (myself includede) and to those who were impacted on subsequent flights who were bumped to accommodate us. That said I am relieved that the plane was grounded because it was discovered unsafe to fly and that this did not turn into a bigger and tragic story.
Good perspective. It could have been much worse.