A drone has hit an Emirates Airlines Airbus A380-800 (registered as A6-EOM) while landing at the Nice Airport in France.
According to an Aviation Safety Network report, the incident occurred on Friday, August 18, and a subsequent inspection after the landing revealed damage to a wing component responsible for increasing lift during low-speed flight.
“The aircraft sustained damage to a section of the leading edge. The aircraft was grounded, and the leading edge slat was replaced Sunday, August 20, ’23,” the report reads.
In this regard, the Head of the Air Navigation Department at the DGAC Sud Est Bruno Boulay claimed that no proven evidence exists to support the assertion.
As Boulay explains, the incident was reported while the aircraft was still on the ground during the thrust phase. He also explains that the pilot communicated with the control tower, alerting them to a problem preventing a subsequent takeoff.
In addition, the Bureau of Research and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) in France has admitted its involvement in the investigation of this incident. However, the agency is still unable to definitively confirm whether a drone played a role in the incident.
Starting on August 19 2023, three different Emirates Airbus A380s have undertaken flights under the designation EK77 to Nice Airport. These include aircraft with registration codes A6-EOB, A6-EEC, and A6-EEV.
Based on data from Ch-aviation, an Airbus A380 with registration A6-EOM was delivered by Airbus in August 2015. Meanwhile, its inaugural flight took place on March 10 2015.
Moreover, during its operational history, the A6-EOM has accumulated a total of 29,829 flight hours and 3,061 flight cycles. The aircraft also underwent a storage period between March 2020 and May 2021, during which Ch-aviation records show a lack of registered flight hours and flight cycles.
There was also a marked decrease in activity in March 2020 compared to the previous month. At the same time, a similar pattern emerged between June 2022 and October 2022.
Similarly, on August 21, an Air France Airbus A319 aircraft registered as F-GRHY was ready for flight from Paris Orly Airport in France to Algeria when an incident occurred while pushing from the gate at Orly Airport.
This incident resulted in damage to the aircraft’s nose gear, causing the airline to decide to cancel the scheduled flight. In response to the situation, the airline’s mechanics began repair work.
