An Asiana Airlines Airbus A330 airliner got too close to a Turkish Airlines Airbus A321 at Istanbul Airport yesterday. I don’t know why the Turkish Airlines plane was so far back in its parking position. It doesn’t look like it was being pushed back after loading passengers.
You can read more about the collision here.
I wonder how long both jets will spend in the body & fender shop?
Peter
If I had to guess, I'd say groundcrew failure, not pilot error.
The ground controller wouldn't have given clearance if he knew the plane was obstructing.
Often times there is no ramp controller and the ground control is called at the top of the alley. Asiana looks like they had just started and were moving up to the taxiway. The Turkish guy looked like he was waiting for a marshaller. The ramp guy next to the belt loader is priceless. After the 321 is hit, he waves at the crew to get their attention, like they weren't aware.
The error is entirely on Asiana. Turkish is waiting for a marshaller. Unless you are at a gate with an automated parking system, you cannot taxi into the gate area without a marshaller, and at least one, but usually two, wingwalkers. No wing walkers were in view..
Jac is correct, and Asiana is gonna PAY for that. The proximate cause will be that Asiana was trying to make a takeoff time.
Looks like it snapped off the vertical stabilizer.
He Peter;
Both planes are Airbus, One is a A330 and the other is a newer A321. Now about Airbus, they use a lot of composite in the construction for weight savings, but the flipside is that composite is expensive and to get the parts from Airbus will be real expensive. Asiana is at fault, looks like the 321 was waiting for wing walkers and a jet tug, the 330 was probably running to meet its takeoff time. The End results is that someone was in a hurry and didn't do their due diligence.
Major structural damage is the same whether the materials are composite or aluminium. The expense isn't in the parts. It is repairing the damage to the airframe and insuring the airworthiness of the repair.