Incident Overview

Date: Monday 31 May 2010
Aircraft Type: Boeing 747-412 (BCF)
Owner/operator: Cathay Pacific Cargo
Registration Number: B-HKH
Location: London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) – ÿ United Kingdom
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Minor
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: Wing panels above and below the inboard flaps on the right wing.Wing panels above and below the inboard flaps on the right wing.
Investigating Agency: AAIBAAIB
Category: Accident
An aircraft experienced a structural failure during taxiing, resulting in damage to wing panels and a critical landing gear support beam. The wing flaps malfunctioned, triggering a ?FLAP CONTROL? status, and subsequent inspections revealed a structural failure in the landing gear support beam.An aircraft experienced a structural failure during taxiing, resulting in damage to wing panels and a critical landing gear support beam. The wing flaps malfunctioned, triggering a ?FLAP CONTROL? status, and subsequent inspections revealed a structural failure in the landing gear support beam.

Description

The aircraft was operating a freight service from Delhi to London Heathrow. During taxiing after landing the crew observed that the wing flaps were slown to retract and after shutdown a ?FLAP CONTROL? status message was displayed. This was recorded by the crew in the aircraft?s technical log. During post-flight inspections by an engineer, damage was identified to wing panels above and below the inboard flaps on the right wing and the flaps appeared out of alignment. Further investigation showed that the outboard end fitting of the wing landing gear support beam had failed. The outboard end fittings of the right wing gear support beam failed due to cracks, propagating from corrosion pits in the main bore of the fitting, reaching a critical length.

Primary Cause

Failure of the outboard end fitting of the right wing landing gear support beam due to corrosion pits and cracks, leading to a critical length extension.Failure of the outboard end fitting of the right wing landing gear support beam due to corrosion pits and cracks, leading to a critical length extension.

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