An Airbus Beluga will reportedly come to the rescue of a damaged British Airways A350 that has been left stranded at London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) since April 2024.
The British Airways Airbus A350-1000, registered G-XWBC, was involved in a collision with a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at Heathrow in April 2024, resulting in damage to the aircraft’s right-hand horizontal stabilizer.
According to reports at the time of the incident, on April 6, 2024, the Virgin Atlantic Dreamliner was being pushed back when its left-hand wing tip struck the parked BA A350 while it was waiting to fly to Accra Kotoka International Airport (ACC) in Ghana.
While the Virgin Atlantic plane, registered G-VDIA, returned to operations in June 2024, according to ch-aviation.com, the BA jet has remained awaiting repair at the UK’s largest airport.
According to Aviation Data Analyst, M Zulqarnain B, and first reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, an Airbus Beluga is expected to arrive at Heathrow Airport on September 9, 2024, with spare parts to repair the A350.
Airbus Beluga is expected to arrive to London Heathrow this month, this is due to the spare parts which are being delivered for British Airways aircraft, A350 G-XWBC.
— M Zulqarnain B (@MZulqarnainBut1) September 1, 2024
Be advised, aircraft type TBC.
09 SEP
BGA1350 STA 1100 TLS
BGA1350 STD 1720 TLS
Subject to change#aviation pic.twitter.com/sk4UVWVI3H
Responding to his post on X, an aviation enthusiast confirmed that an Airbus BelugaXL aircraft will carry out the rescue mission.
Airbus launched the BelugaXL in 2014 to replace the BelugaST fleet. There are currently six BelugaXLs in Airbus’ fleet that operate from France.
In April 2022, the same British Airways A350 was involved a separate incident at Heathrow which was formally investigated by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
While being towed from the stand at London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) Terminal 3, A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner left wingtip hit the horizontal stabilizer of a British Airways Airbus 350-1041 jet (G-XWBC, Built 2019) on 06 Apr. Saturday, sparking a huge emergency pic.twitter.com/eYcYzaC25c
— flyer737777 (@Flyer737777) April 6, 2024
According to the AAIB report published on August 18, 2022, G-XWBC initiated a go-around “from low height and low speed” after arriving from Dubai.
“The aircraft had insufficient energy to climb immediately and so touched down during the go-around process. The pitch rate induced by the co-pilot caused the aircraft to reach a nose up attitude sufficient to cause a tailstrike as the aircraft touched down,” the AAIB concluded in its report.
AeroTime contacted British Airways and Heathrow Airport for comment, but at the time of publication had not yet received a reply.