Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines. Tony has covered avionics, unmanned vehicles, the supply chain and cyberwarfare.
The wing section of a British Airways Boeing 747-400 was heavily damaged after clipping a building while taxiing at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport. The aircraft, G-BNLL, was taxiing for departure at 10:40 p.m. on Dec. 22 for a return flight to London Heathrow when the starboard wing hit the upper floor of a two-story building. It appears that the 747 did not make a left-hand turn toward the threshold of Runway 03 Left and instead continued on a taxiway with limited wing-tip clearance for use by general aviation aircraft.
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 has made its first flight since suffering structural damage in a fire at London’s Heathrow Airport in July. Boeing test pilots took ET-AOP on a test flight from Heathrow on Dec. 21, flying racetrack patterns over the North Sea at 39,000 ft. The aircraft was due to land at Manston Airport in Kent, U.K., in the afternoon and then return to Heathrow later in the day. It is not clear whether more flights will be required, but Boeing is hopeful of returning the aircraft to passenger operations in the coming weeks.
