“He wasn’t tall enough” – mystery of collapsed 787 revealed

In what sounds like the beginning of a comedy sketch, the report is in from the UK’s aviation investigator, and it’s not good news for size-challenged engineers.

On June 18th, a British Airways 787-8 collapsed at Heathrow when it was preparing for a cargo flight to Frankfurt. 

The UK’s aviation safety regulator has now blamed human error for the bizarre incident.

The incident took place when crews were performing what’s called a “Dispatch Deviation Guide” (DDG) procedure.

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This procedure required the cockpit landing gear selection lever to be cycled with hydraulic power applied to the aircraft. According to AAIB, “to prevent the landing gear from retracting, the procedure required pins to be inserted in the nose and main landing gear down locks.

But this didn’t happen. Why?

The investigation revealed the mechanic who was tasked to handle the landing gear of the 787 was not tall enough to reach a pin.

When another taller mechanic stepped in, the second mechanic put the pin in the wrong recess. The error made the landing gear suddenly retract, thinking the plane was flying.

A service bulletin was provided by Boeing, which instructed the 787 operators to “install an insert into the NLG lock link apex pin bore”.

Either that, or hire taller engineers.