A vehicle becomes lodged underneath a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350
On Monday, April 15, a Virgin Atlantic flight from New York to London was canceled due to an incident at the gate involving a ground service car. The trip was supposed to be operated by an Airbus A350-1000, but it is currently grounded as personnel look for potential damage.It is thought that the widebody jet "rolled into" its left engine cowling while it was stopped. Onlookers have conjectured, meanwhile, that once weight was added to the aircraft, the engine "came down onto the car ever so slowly."
The airplane is registered as G-VDOT, claiming a Reddit post. The massive engine of the A350 is seen beneath the hood of a Gate Gourmet vehicle in a shot of the aftermath, as workers on the ground appear to be evaluating the situation.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson made a comment on this event stating,
“Today’s VS26 from New York JFK to London Heathrow has been 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.”
The A350 and the vehicle appear to be in good condition in the picture. It's unclear exactly when the vehicle struck the airplane, despite the airline's statement that there were no people on board. Instead, a Reddit user speculated, the engine might have struck the car.
“Or did they park the car there, and then the aircraft was fueled and loaded with cargo/pax? Just one more possibility,” the user noted. “I am almost certain that is exactly what happened. Engine cowls are astonishingly flimsy. Seeing how far down the front of that car is pushed down, he would have had to be moving at a decent clip to get wedged that far under the engine… Everything visible here suggests the engine came down onto the car ever so slowly.”
