British Airways first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, delivered to the airline less than a year ago, was damaged during an incident in Dubai International Airport (DXB). The aircraft collided on the ground with Emirates Boeing 777-300 on April 13, 2020.
At the time of the incident, British Airways A350XWB was reportedly being pushed-back prior to the takeoff. The airliner was scheduled to operate a cargo-only flight BA106 to London Heathrow (LHR), which was subsequently cancelled.
Emirates Boeing 777, registration number A6-EBR, which arrived in Dubai from Saudi Arabia, Riyadh King Khalid International Airport (RUH) operating flight EK9706, was parked. The collision left both wide-bodies with broken horizontal stabilizers, as can be seen in the pictures on social media:
British Airways A350K (G-XWBA) and Emirates B773 (A6-EBR) both got stabilizer damage in a ground collision while A350 was pushed-back at Dubai-Intl AP (OMDB). The return flight #BA106 to London was canceled. @airline_kitty https://t.co/W1N9UWHbNp pic.twitter.com/9alSzUP4cB
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) April 14, 2020
The abovementioned A350XWB, registration number G-XWBA, is British Airways’ first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. It was delivered in July 2019. Since then, the carrier has added four more airliners of the type from its order of 18.
Yet despite a short operational history, the latest incident is far from being the only one involving British Airways A350XWB. Another airliner of the type, namely the one carrying G-XWBD registration number, has already earned the “unluckiest” title.
The G-XWBD had to be repaired for the first time before it even left the Airbus facilities, as it was damaged by a piece of equipment while still in a paint shop. Finally delivered to BA in December 2019, the airliner’s operations with the carrier continued appealingly in not much luck either.
The aircraft suffered a hard landing in Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel (TLV), got stuck in London Heathrow following a hydraulic fluid spill and spent a couple of days in Toronto (Canada) after another hydraulic spill.