A small incident on the ground created a domino effect that resulted in several other flights being delayed or cancelled also due to the plane’s damage. There was no one on the plane, everything seemed normal until the catering truck (on the ground) hit a part of the airplane causing delays and cancellations – the wing of the airplane was hit and damaged. While it may seem insignificant (like a broken wing) in the aviation industry, any damage (regardless of how small) must be inspected before taking any other actions – like moving the aircraft.
The flight was originally scheduled to leave Singapore for Frankfurt around midday; however, after inspecting the damage to the aircraft and doing the required repairs, the flight was able to leave Frankfurt later that afternoon.
The time from the time the aircraft was damaged until the time it was able to fly again was not very long because the flap on the wing was repaired. In addition, the aircraft has been certified as being able to fly again.
Passengers waited during this period at the airport. Passengers received refreshments while waiting for their delayed flight; therefore the airport provided some level of customer service during the delay.
The aircraft flew away at 14:13 hour (local) after departing Thailand and carrying over 400 people, including crew. Upon reaching Frankfurt later that same day, it landed safely and without any other problems, ending what started as an extremely messy situation.
Due to this late arrival and missed connection, there was no flight from Frankfurt back to Singapore since the return flight was canceled outright.
The primary reason was airport restrictions. Frankfurt Airport has strict curfew rules which require airlines to keep their schedules within specific curfew times for takeoff or landing flights. When these times close, it is impossible for an airline to reschedule any flights.
It is also important to understand that most airlines operate a ‘hub and spoke’ model for their aircraft fleet. This means that airlines use the same aircraft to operate return legs (flights) on their schedules. Therefore, any delay in the operation of the first leg of the flight affects the second leg.
Behind the scenes at an airport, preparing an aircraft to fly long-haul routes takes much longer than most people think. Once an aircraft lands, passengers need to be unloaded, the cabin must be cleaned and refuelled, all necessary supplies must be added to the aircraft, and the new passengers need to board the aircraft. The entire turnaround time for this entire process (for most aircraft) can take at least one hour but can exceed two hours for some.
By having the delay eat into this time, there was simply not enough time to finish all of the above tasks before the curfew ended.
The airline provided support such as hotel accommodations, rebooking options and all other needed help to those passengers on the cancelled flight; this is a standard practice but can still be very frustrating for those caught in between.
By taking a second to look at the situation as a whole this actually demonstrates how close the ties are between airline operations. Just one small incident on the ground can affect multiple flights, cities and many of travellers.
And while no one wants a delayed flight, the airline will put safety checks first no matter how they need to reschedule everything else.
