LONDON – AviationSource has got a closer look into the damage sustained to a Flyr Boeing 737 MAX’s winglet caused by a stair truck.
Norwegian carrier Flyr saw an incident to one of their Boeing 737 MAXs in December, as a staircase crashed into the lower part of its winglet, causing substantial damage to its structure and keeping it grounded until further notice.
The airline now has two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft grounded.
As of January 20, the aircraft is remotely parked and missing half of its winglet until repairs can begin.
The incident
On December 26, a Flyr Boeing 737 MAX registered LN-FGE (MSN 63560) received substantial damage to its left winglet after a Menzies staircase drove into its lower winglet part upon arrival from Brussels.
Just prior to the incident, the aircraft had been operating a normal scheduled Monday roundtrip to Brussels, flying FS1642 from Oslo, before returning back on flight number FS1643, where the troubles started after parking.
LN-FGE is one of six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft Flyr currently has in their fleet, and it was delivered brand new to the airline back in April of 2022, originally destined for the troubled carrier Blue Air.
At the time of writing, the airline has two grounded Boeing 737 MAXs consisting of LN-FGH (MSN 43354) and LN-FGE (MSN 63560).
The grounding of LN-FGH is for an unknown reason but is likely to be because of the airline’s cost-saving actions they took in late 2022.
AviationSource personally went to Oslo Gardermoen on January 20 to look at the damage, which has left the entire lower part of the aircraft’s winglet to be dismantled, and the aircraft stored and covered in snow since the incident on December 26, with no known date to when the aircraft will see a repair.
LOIs and charters – Will this affect Flyr?
With the unfortunate incident leaving LN-FGE stuck on the pavement for the unknown future, a question pops into the mind of how this will affect the airline in the time forward, seeing that Flyr has LOIs and charters to operate.
Flyr has been no stranger to the airline spotlight in recent months, given the troubles the company met in late 2022.
To take harsh cost-saving actions, Flyr reduced their operating schedules heavily and furloughed 50% of the airline staff.
With Flyr due to operating charters to Innsbruck from Gotheburg later this January, whilst at the same time following a restricted, though extensive route network, Flyr will make sure to utilize the functional grounded aircraft, which in this case will be to great aid for LN-FGE as it remains without repairs for the time being.
Flyr currently has 12 Boeing 737 divided into two types, the 737-800NG and the 737 MAX 8.
In total, the airline received six Boeing 737-800s and six Boeing 737 MAX 8s, with the option for even more in 2023 if that should be a realistic outcome under the airline’s circumstances.
Seeing that Flyr currently has all other aircraft except for two Boeing 737 MAX 8s, the unconfirmed conclusion is that it will likely not have a big effect on operations until the summer program launches in March.
