TRANS Boeing 757-200 forced to divert to Denver after a chunk of the wing came off mid-flight.

jward

jward

passin' thru
Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg

NEW: Boeing 757-200 forced to divert to Denver after a chunk of the wing came off mid-flight.

The plane was flying from San Francisco to Boston when the pilot announced the news.

“We take off, I heard this loud buzzing noise, and then it faded away so I didn’t think much of it and all of a sudden the pilot is coming back, so I threw my window open, peeked out the window and the whole leading edge of the wing was destroyed,” said one passenger.

The passenger thinks the plane hit birds however that is unconfirmed at the moment.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1760297615475020173
View: https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1760297615475020173?s=20
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
same video but different/additional details.

R A W S A L E R T S
@rawsalerts

#WATCH: As a United Flight Makes Emergency Landing as Wing Starts to Break Midflight

#Denver | #Colorado

Watch as a United Boeing 757 flight, originally headed from San Francisco to Boston, had to divert to Denver for an emergency landing after the wing of the aircraft began to come apart mid-flight Monday evening. There were 165 passengers on board United Flight 354. United confirmed that the plane experienced an issue with a wing slat, and they landed safely at Denver International Airport The passengers were later transferred to an awaiting plane and got to Boston about three hours after the planned landing. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
That looks like a leading edge flap (or slat) and while any damage to an aircraft is serious, that damage doesn't appear to be critical to a safe landing.

If it was a bird strike I think the passenger would've heard 'thumps' before they heard the buzzing sound. Otherwise, I have no idea what could've caused it.

Best
Doc
 
ainitfunny

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
I'm telling you we have SABATOURS in our critical
manufacturing businesses. The government will never reveal this to the public. Many of our aurcraft are also
Serviced/Repaired at overseas, third world country's airports.
 
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Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
Yep....not a real biggie. Damage to the slat and it does look like they hit something. The slats are deployed on take off and landings to provide extra lift and enhanced slow speed handling and are not really a part of the overall wing structure or wing spar. I'm sure they just left the slats as they were as you don't want to try to retract them and have the damaged one not retract. Probably just turned around slowly and landed. Looks worse than it is. The article title is a bit of click bait as a chunk of the wing didn't fall off. Boeing is probably heaving a sigh of relief though.
 
cwr

cwr

Senior Member
Honeycomb is showing. Actuator either failed or bracket broke and then hit it and it blew off. Maybe the bolt was missing?
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
cwr said:
Honeycomb is showing. Actuator either failed or bracket broke and then hit it and it blew off. Maybe the bolt was missing?
Click to expand...

Leading edge of the wing that the slats normally covered are dented too. Don't see a component that could of come off to do that. Looks like they hit something. No blood so may or may not of been a bird strike. If the laminate itself just failed I don't think the other damage would of occurred.
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
On a related note, I've read of countless aircraft damage incidents, where the pilots couldn't see rearward to inspect for any damage.

With the advent of micro cameras and modern electronics, I've long wondered why cameras aren't installed which would allow the pilots to see the entirety of the aircraft's exterior when it's airborne. I'm certainly not an engineer, but I can't imagine that such an installation would require any structural redesign of a modern jetliner.

Best
Doc
 
cwr

cwr

Senior Member
Hfcomms said:
Leading edge of the wing that the slats normally covered are dented too. Don't see a component that could of come off to do that. Looks like they hit something. No blood so may or may not of been a bird strike. If the laminate itself just failed I don't think the other damage would of I
Click to expand...

Hfcomms said:
Leading edge of the wing that the slats normally covered are dented too. Don't see a component that could of come off to do that. Looks like they hit something. No blood so may or may not of been a bird strike. If the laminate itself just failed I don't think the other damage would of occurred.
Click to expand...
My DH is an aircraft mech engineer just quoting him. Time will tell. The bolt was a joke. Also note the hole you can see in the video.
 
bw

bw

Fringe Ranger
Doesn't look like anything hit it. When retracted, the part that's damaged is the trailing edge and is essentially flat. The leading edge of the slat is what's shown tilted down in the above pics. I'm thinking some kind of vibration set up and it progressively deteriorated. Sounds more like a maintenance issue than a strike, but that's just my 2p.
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
summerthyme said:
Space junk?

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
It's entirely possible or...

Is there a meteor shower in February?

It begins at the end of January and carries through until February 21. In 2024, it will peak on the evening of February 8 - 9. Because the stream isn't as robust as larger showers, only about six peaks per hour are produced even during the peak. That's compared to more than 100 per hour during the Perseids, in August.Feb 8, 2024
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
Good lawd people.

Anyway, if I may steer the conversation to something serious for a moment--- my imagination or are they inundating the public square with stories of insanity in the air, and plane failures and the like?

..I typically answer my own questions instead of imposing upon others time, energy and good will to do the work for me, but I no longer really trust oversight bodies or the official statistics they put out, so :: shrug ::
 
Macgyver

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
bw said:
Doesn't look like anything hit it. When retracted, the part that's damaged is the trailing edge and is essentially flat. The leading edge of the slat is what's shown tilted down in the above pics. I'm thinking some kind of vibration set up and it progressively deteriorated. Sounds more like a maintenance issue than a strike, but that's just my 2p.
Click to expand...
Look right above the broken flap, sheet metal is all dented up.
But they look like soft dents.

Kind of like a car hitting a dear vrs hitting a steel pole.
 
Macgyver

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm going to guess bird strike on takeoff that no one noticed till they opened the window shade part way through the flight.
 
vector7

vector7

Dot Collector
ainitfunny said:
I'm telling you we have SABATOURS in our critical manufacturing businesses.
Click to expand...
190310223810-pete-buttgieg-town-hall-03102019-exlarge-169-768x431.jpg
 
wobble

wobble

Veteran Member
Macgyver said:
Look right above the broken flap, sheet metal is all dented up.
But they look like soft dents.

Kind of like a car hitting a dear vrs hitting a steel pole.
Click to expand...
That might have been from the turbulence shattering the cracking bits banging it into the metal as it disintegrated.
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
jward said:
:jstr:

...and in completely unrelated news (likely it is unrelated, but still). . .

The Associated Press
@AP
BREAKING: Boeing ousts head of 737 jetliner program, appoints new vice president of quality
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1760384174144254149
View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1760384174144254149?s=20
Click to expand...

Surprised they didn't hold the job up for Kamela Harris that will be available next January. Isn't she qualified? I mean she is a black female and with Boeing's dedication to DEI she should be a shoe in.
 
Masterphreak

Masterphreak

Senior Member
I've heard that this has been a known issue with the leading edge slats on the 757 for a long time. They can delaminate. Still sounds like a lack of inspections allowed this one to get so bad it came apart in flight. It was likely flapping around before separating from the aircraft.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
greysage said:
Intentional drone strike.
Someone trying to stuff a drone through the engine of a jet-airliner.
After all, multiple authorities, last week said, there's a big threat lurking.
Click to expand...

That's not that far out of a possibility. That being said there are drone detecting equipment and software that would if in place detect and tract a drone and the operating station/operator. Whether SFO uses that or not I don't know though they should be.
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
jward said:
Good lawd people.

Anyway, if I may steer the conversation to something serious for a moment--- my imagination or are they inundating the public square with stories of insanity in the air, and plane failures and the like?

..I typically answer my own questions instead of imposing upon others time, energy and good will to do the work for me, but I no longer really trust oversight bodies or the official statistics they put out, so :: shrug ::
Click to expand...

These sorts of things have always happened, HOWEVER, now that everyone has a handy dandy phone and video recording device in their phone, and access to social media, we're hearing more and more about these sorts of incidents.
 
Mark D

Mark D

Now running for Emperor.
night driver said:
So Mark D, with the 737 Project Leader being GONZO, you moving any sooner???
Click to expand...
I'm responsible for the engines on the 777X Flight-Test fleet, so I'm pretty insulated.

My move date is independent of anything happening at work. =-)

757's are COOL birds: "Old Boeing" goodness. I wish we were still building them.
 
Wildweasel

Wildweasel

F-4 Phantoms Phorever
bw said:
Doesn't look like anything hit it. When retracted, the part that's damaged is the trailing edge and is essentially flat. The leading edge of the slat is what's shown tilted down in the above pics. I'm thinking some kind of vibration set up and it progressively deteriorated. Sounds more like a maintenance issue than a strike, but that's just my 2p.
Click to expand...
"Maintenance Issue" includes Joe Bumblefingers stepping on that slat in that exact spot, cracking the laminate and starting the chain of events that lead to the inflight failure. "No Step" is painted all over the top of aircraft wings for a reason.
 
Mark D

Mark D

Now running for Emperor.
OldArcher said:
With the head of Boeing’s 737 Max program being shitcanned, and this SURPRISE, might be good idea to divest your Boeing stock. Airbus, anyone?

OA
Click to expand...
Ummm... The 757 hasn't been produced for 20 years.

Who has been maintaining the plane, and component in question, during that time?
 
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