A KLM Flight from Osaka to Amsterdam lost a 4KG heavy panel short after take off which dropped onto a moving vehicle on the ground and smashed it’s window.
The KLM flight continued to Amsterdam without any interruption and further incident related to the detached part.
When you think about things coming down from the skies (related to airplanes) then there is always this incorrect rumor that it’s feces from the planes sewage tank but this time it’s actually much more serious as the B777 KLM flies between Osaka-Kansai and Amsterdam lost a very large and heavy piece of it’s fuselage.
The BBC (access here) and other outlets reported that the piece then hit a driving car and smashed it’s window.
A car was seriously damaged when part of an aeroplane’s wing landed on it in the Japanese city of Osaka.
The piece, which weighed more than 4kg (9lb), fell from a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plane shortly after it departed Kansai International Airport on Saturday. It damaged the car’s roof and smashed its rear window after falling more than 2,000 metres (6,500ft).
No one was injured in the incident but KLM has launched an investigation. The piece broke off from the wing of a Boeing 777 which had more than 300 passengers on board. The flight landed safely at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport later on Saturday.
In a statement, the Dutch airline said: “KLM regrets this incident and has immediately launched an investigation into the causes.”
Thankfully neither the driver of the car was hurt nor the passengers and crew on the flight. It’s unclear if the cockpit crew knew about the missing piece of if that came to their attention only upon returning to Amsterdam.
Meanwhile someone posted an image of the part in question on his Twitter account (see here):
As can be seen the item in question isn’t exactly small. While 4 kilogram doesn’t sound like much it’s certainly a giant force when coming down at you from 2000 meters altitude (or even a couple meters for that matter), let alone the sharp edges of the panel. It’s a miracle nobody got injured by it.
Conclusion
Airplanes that lost parts have been responsible for some of the worst aircraft disasters in history. Remember the hand made metal strobe a Continental Airlines jet lost upon takeoff in Paris that caused the crash of the Concorde? The fact that this item just ‘came off’ is cause for concern. Yet let’s not forget that thousands of flights take off every day without losing anything, coming back to the ground in one piece and not missing any.
