An El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Shabbat hit a power pole at Las Vegas Airport. There was severe damage to one of the wings, as well as a power outage at the airport.
תראו איזה נזק מטורף. ה787 של אל על שניזוק קשה בוגאס. מבדיקה עולה כי המטוס נגרר מנהלתית כשלא היה צוות אויר לאחר שחרור הנוסעים לאחר הנחיתה. צוות הגרירה לא המתין לfollow me – וגרר על דעת עצמו, ואז נגרם הנזק כתוצאה מהפגיעה בעמוד. המטוס הזה, רק בן עשרה חודשים, יושבת לתקופה ארוכה. pic.twitter.com/0Ky21VBeA8
— Sharon Idan | שרון עידן (@sharonidan)
El Al’s Dreamliner 787 (4X-EDH) took off Friday night from Ben Gurion Airport to Las Vegas. A preliminary investigation revealed that after landing, local airport employees apparently refused to wait for a guide to supervise the plane’s towing and towed the plane on their own.
As a result, while being towed, the plane’s wing struck a power pole.
Due to the severe damage, the year-old aircraft has been grounded, which will dramatically disrupt the company’s flight schedule in the coming weeks.
The Dreamliner aircraft was inducted into service at El Al in August 2017, as part of the carrier’s huge acquisition of 16 Boeing 787s. At the same time, the company took out all its Boeing 747s and Boeing 767s.
El Al issued a statement saying the flight from Las Vegas to Tel Aviv was canceled due to aircraft unusability after the damage to the plane’s wing while it was being towed to a parking spot without passengers onboard. The passengers have been informed of alternative flights being arranged for them, and the airliner apologized for “the unpleasantness caused to our customers.”
