Piece of a Boeing 777’s Wing Fell Off — And Landed on a Car in Osaka

A KLM Boeing 777-200 flying from Osaka Kansai to Amsterdam on Saturday lost a piece of its wing — which fell onto a car.

As the plane climbed through 12,000 feet on departure a one meter fairing panel came off the plane — and fell onto Keihan National Highway in Osaka.


Copyright: flaperval / 123RF Stock Photo

It hit a car, damaged a window, and dented the roof — but thankfully no one in the car was injured. Flight KL868 was carrying 321 people on board and continued safely to Amsterdam.

The piece, which weighed more than 4kg (9lb), fell from a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plane shortly after it departed Kansai International Airport on Saturday.

It damaged the car’s roof and smashed its rear window after falling more than 2,000 metres (6,500ft).

It turns out the plane’s right wing lost the 9 pound piece. Considering the number of screws attaching the piece to the aircraft it’s surprising that it came loose. An accident investigation should be revealing.

(HT: Khalil D.)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. At Schiphole this would not be seen as a klm problem since it would help fill in the surrounding swampland.

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