A380 hits building

[Craig Lindsay]

PARIS (Dow Jones)---Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. (003490.SE) flew to Airbus's rescue Monday, lending one of its A380 superjumbos for displays at this years Paris Air Show after the European commercial aircraft maker's own plane collided with a building.

A spokesman for Airbus said the A380 would fly at Le Bourget Monday and Tuesday and that it was using one of Korean's aircraft that had been on static display at the show.

Airbus Sunday was forced to pull its own aircraft out of planned displays as a result of the mishap. Its own double-decker aircraft sat idle with its right wing-tip covered, hiding the damage. "During ground maneuvers with the Airbus A380 flight test aircraft MSN 004, the aircraft's right hand wing-tip touched a structure near the taxiway," Airbus said in a statement Sunday.

A nearby building with the name "Embraer" emblazoned on the side showed signs of the collision, with the corner ripped out one-third of the way down. Embraer is Brazil's Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (ERJ, EMVRA3). Airbus is a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV (EADSY).

Earlier this year, an A380 operated by Air France clipped a Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) CRJ-700 regional jet at New York's John F. Kennedy airport, sending the smaller plan into a spin.

The start of the show has been marred with difficulties. Airbus was forced to pull its military transport carrier A400M out of displays because of an issue it identified during tests with its gearbox some 10 days ago.

A spokesman for Airbus Military said it made the decision on safety reasons, especially as some of the stunts that were to be performed are demanding.

Still, in a bid to avoid complete embarrassment on the day the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other foreign dignitaries visited, Airbus hauled in one of its other four A400M for a fly pass.

-By Kaveri Niththyananthan, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420 7842 9299; kaveri.niththyananthan@dowjones.com

[A McLaughlin]

Should see the building!!!

[David Ramsay]

I hear it was the Embraer hangar.

[JamesP]

Originally Posted by David Ramsay

I hear it was the Embraer hangar.

Indeed it was:
.

There were a few other photos I saw on the airliners.net thread, including one that seemed to have been taken from inside the A380, but they've since been removed.

[Bernie P]

HERE's a link, which has (amongst others) the image you are talking about JamesP

[A McLaughlin]

Amazingly, they flew it back to Toulouse Monday - sans wingtip - scrounged and fitted a wingtip from another test aircraft, and it was back at Le Bourget and flying on Wednesday!

[Brad Varney]

A bit of superglue will do the trick,
but damn that's nasty

[Stephen B]

"And we now cross to our corrospondant in Paris where a merger has just been announced between the French giant Airbus and Brazilian manufacturer Embraer...."

[Mick F]

Rather appropriate, the wingtip is just like the Embraer logo, ;-)