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A Gate Gourmet vehicle struck a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000’s engine and caused flight VS26 scheduled to operate between New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) yesterday. No injuries have been reported, but one has to wonder how the driver ended up striking the engine.
In a statement Virgin Atlantic said, "Today’s VS26 from New York JFK to London Heathrow has been cancelled following an incident at the gate at JFK involving the engine cowling of a stationary Virgin Atlantic aircraft and a catering service provider’s car that rolled into it. We…
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) April 15, 2024
The aircraft was parked at the gate when the incident occurred. View from the Wing shares that the list price on a new Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine (like the one on this aircraft) is $25 million. While this engine could likely be repaired and not need to be replaced entirely, a replacement engine would get the aircraft back in service sooner and the revenue generated should offset the cost.
Virgin Atlantic released the following statement:
Today’s VS26 from New York JFK to London Heathrow has been cancelled following an incident at the gate at JFK involving the engine cowling of a stationary Virgin Atlantic aircraft and a catering service provider’s car that rolled into it. We can confirm that no customers were on board the aircraft during this time.”
Anthony’s Take: Someone is going to have some explaining to do. It’s unclear what caused the driver to strike the engine with this vehicle, but it is a costly mistake and likely caused headaches for all of the passengers that needed to be rebooked.
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