Airbus’ superjumbo jet clips building at air show

The European airplane maker Airbus was left red in the face this weekend, when on on-ground accident forced it to withdraw an A380 superjumbo from the Paris Air Show.

The enormous plane--with a wingspan of 80 yards--scraped a building at the show, clipping its wing. Korean Air flew one of its superjumbo jets to the show to come to Airbus' rescue, The Wall Street Journal reported. The damaged
plane sat with its wing covered over the weekend.

Reuters

The mishap wasn't the only embarrassment for Airbus at the biennial air show. The company also had to pull a military transport carrier A400M from a flight demonstration after problems were found in its gear box, the Journal reports. Airbus officials then brought in another aircraft to do a flyover pass to impress visiting foreign dignitaries who attended the show.

Meanwhile, rival Boeing's distinctive 747-8 superjumbo upstaged Airbus. The company said it had received $5.4 billion in orders for the new aircraft.

 

The damaged right-hand wing-tip of the Airbus A380, the world's largest jetliner with a wingspan of almost 80 metres, is seen on the tarmac during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget airport, near Paris, June 20, 2011. The right-hand wing-tip of the plane scraped a building on Sunday and was withdrawn from the air show's traditional flying displays. The aircraft was hidden out of sight on Monday as President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurated the show.

Despite the PR setbacks, Airbus pulled in billions of dollars worth of orders for its narrow-body A320 jet--especially from Middle East and Asia-based companies, according to Reuters. The narrow planes save 15 percent in fuel costs.

 

The damaged right wing tip of Airbus A380 is seen on the tarmac on the eve of the opening of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget

Earlier this year, a double-decker A380 operated by Air France clipped a smaller jet while it was taxiing, sending it into a spin.

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