JAL Dreamliner stuck in Tampa

I don't care who you are, you can't blame the airplane for this one.

A Japan Airlines 787 (JA835J) operating on a non-scheduled passenger flight carrying the Japanese soccer team to the FIFA World Cup will apparently be stuck in Tampa for awhile. The aircraft landed in Tampa, and was given the water cannon salute, as it was the first Dreamliner arrival in Tampa.

During the salute, one of the fire trucks was improperly positioned, and had the water cannon extended. As the Dreamliner taxied by, the right wingtip struck the boom, tearing the tip off. Initial reports say that the wingtip structure is destroyed beyond repair, which means it will require complete replacement.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
During the salute, one of the fire trucks was improperly positioned, and had the water cannon extended. As the Dreamliner taxied by, the right wingtip struck the boom, tearing the tip off. Initial reports say that the wingtip structure is destroyed beyond repair, which means it will require complete replacement.

Wow. Pretty close to the outer tanks. That could have been much worse than actually turned out.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Oh yeah. It could have created a huge mess if it had hit the outer tank. Another few feet over and it would have been at least a fuel spill, instead of just wingtip debris. And with them having just come in, there was probably a lot of vapor in that tank, so it could have ended with a burned out Dreamliner.

a reply to: Zaphod58

what exactly is the water cannon salute? radiation shower?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
And with them having just come in, there was probably a lot of vapor in that tank, so it could have ended with a burned out Dreamliner.

That was what I was thinking.

I had never seen the water cannon salute for commercial aircraft. Is that standard?

a reply to: mindseye1609

It's just a fancy way of saluting a plane. In this case the first time a Dreamliner had landed in Tampa. It's also done for pilots retiring, the last flight of the plane, special flights, etc. In the military we used to use a fire bottle and spray down the retiring pilot after he dove down the crew ladder to avoid the bucket of water getting dumped on his head.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Yeah, it doesn't happen a lot, but it's standard for certain situations. It's usually used for a retiring pilot on their last flight, but also for first time landings of aircraft.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Yeah, it doesn't happen a lot, but it's standard for certain situations. It's usually used for a retiring pilot on their last flight, but also for first time landings of aircraft.

Gotcha, thanks. I had seen it done for military pilots a few times at Oceana and did not know they did it for commercial pilots/aircraft as well.

Ouch .. and depressing .. not a good sign to have happen on way to worldcup ..

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

We used to get his wife out there with a loaded fire bottle, and as soon as his feet appeared on the crew ladder below the door, she'd blast him. When my father retired they wanted to take him to the hanger he spent years working in and set the fire suppression system off on him.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I am attempting to deduce the " logic " of japan > tampa > brazil

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Most likely it was Japan>Brazil>Tampa. It was listed on Air Accidents as 0 passengers, so it was probably heading up to do a scheduled flight, or they were parking it somewhere other than Brazil, due to lack of room at the airport there.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

It makes a lot more sense now. Apparently there is a match in Miami coming up. The European team is heading there now. Apparently it's the final preparation for the World Cup. So the plane probably dropped them in Miami, and flew to Tampa to wait for them to take them to Brazil after the match.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Clearly if Boeing's engineers had taken this ceremony into account we would't have had this issue. (About as close as I can get to blaming it on the plane. )

a reply to: Zaphod58

I had my shirt tail cut off following my first solo. Just another ritual. Mine is still in the hangar, I believe. I always enjoyed going into the terminal buildings and seeing all the shirts on the walls.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

Yeah, I'm not sure where mine ended up after my sailplane solo. Man I miss that. Good times.

It would appear that the damage wasn't quite as severe as they were afraid. The aircraft was originally scheduled to depart on Friday, but departed on Monday, after repairs were completed. Tampa has suspended all water salutes until it can be guaranteed that it doesn't happen again.

Well if there had been a fire in a dry outer tank at least they wouldn't have needed to call up the airport fire response vehicles. Come to think of it, as it was an operating water cannon, there wouldn't have been a fire anyway!

LEE.