Does anyone know more about this incident and which A330 is involved?Monday night at Douala airport an FMC baggage loader collided with an SN Brussels A330. The same loader built in 1989 already had an accident with a Swiss airliner on 26 October. Tuesday night the Belgian Airbus was still blocked, as mechanics were sent from Brussels on the Air France flight arriving at 19:00.
10 hours work to repair
SN Brussels is angry at the airport company ADC. They have to pay for accommodation and meals for their 150 passengers in the best hotels of Douala, and in addition the plane cannot fly revenue passengers to other destinations during the repair works.
SN Brussels A330 damaged by a baggage loader at Douala
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SN Brussels A330 damaged by a baggage loader at Douala
I posted this news item (retrieved from a Cameroonese newspaper in French) under the Latest News section of Luchtzak.be:
Last edited by sn26567 on 08 Nov 2006, 17:50, edited 1 time in total.
André
ex Sabena #26567
ex Sabena #26567
J'ai glissé, chef.
Avion accidenté de Sn Brussels
Les causes sont connues
La petite qualité du matériel de travail dans l’assistance au sol (des avions) à l’origine de l’accident survenu lundi soir sur la piste de l’aéroport international de Douala.
L’accident entre le loader Fmc, conduit par M. Kinguè, et un appareil de la compagnie SN Brussels, lundi en début de soirée, sur la piste de l’aéroport international de Douala, serait dû à un problème de matériel vieillot :
“ Au moment où je voulais faire descendre les bagages, l’engin n’a pas répondu. Au contraire, il est devenu incontrôlable ”, a déclaré le chef chargeur Kinguè aux enquêteurs.
J'ai glissé, chef.
Cet engin, dont la fabrication daterait de 1989, selon des informations recueillies auprès des responsables des Aéroports du Cameroun(Adc) hier en fin d’après-midi, est aussi celui qui avait déjà, une semaine auparavant, été impliqué dans la destruction d’un avion de Swiss airlines, le 26 octobre dernier.
L’insuffisance du matériel est donc la cause au moins indirecte de l’accident de lundi.
Why could they not limit their "destruction"-works to "un avion de Swiss"
Les causes sont connues
La petite qualité du matériel de travail dans l’assistance au sol (des avions) à l’origine de l’accident survenu lundi soir sur la piste de l’aéroport international de Douala.
L’accident entre le loader Fmc, conduit par M. Kinguè, et un appareil de la compagnie SN Brussels, lundi en début de soirée, sur la piste de l’aéroport international de Douala, serait dû à un problème de matériel vieillot :
“ Au moment où je voulais faire descendre les bagages, l’engin n’a pas répondu. Au contraire, il est devenu incontrôlable ”, a déclaré le chef chargeur Kinguè aux enquêteurs.
J'ai glissé, chef.
Cet engin, dont la fabrication daterait de 1989, selon des informations recueillies auprès des responsables des Aéroports du Cameroun(Adc) hier en fin d’après-midi, est aussi celui qui avait déjà, une semaine auparavant, été impliqué dans la destruction d’un avion de Swiss airlines, le 26 octobre dernier.
L’insuffisance du matériel est donc la cause au moins indirecte de l’accident de lundi.
Why could they not limit their "destruction"-works to "un avion de Swiss"
I just got some news from OO-SFN.
The damage seems to be quite important: structural damage, according to the mechanics sent to Douala, meaning important repair and long delays.
CS-TLQ from EuroAtlantic will come to Brussels to replace it for the time necessary to repair.
It's not the first time that handling in DLA and NSI makes lots of mistakes. Many people think that this sabotage is intentional to express frustration at the demise of Camair.
The damage seems to be quite important: structural damage, according to the mechanics sent to Douala, meaning important repair and long delays.
CS-TLQ from EuroAtlantic will come to Brussels to replace it for the time necessary to repair.
It's not the first time that handling in DLA and NSI makes lots of mistakes. Many people think that this sabotage is intentional to express frustration at the demise of Camair.
André
ex Sabena #26567
ex Sabena #26567
Hi everybody.
A least this will push them to take another plane.
We are also having problems because of that, we had three cancelations in one year.
Plus that one of our passangers had to fly with a sort of Portugues charter company with a SN ticket.(this would never happen with A.F)
Regards
Patrice
A least this will push them to take another plane.
We are also having problems because of that, we had three cancelations in one year.
Plus that one of our passangers had to fly with a sort of Portugues charter company with a SN ticket.(this would never happen with A.F)
Regards
Patrice
Last edited by lumumba on 10 Nov 2006, 14:20, edited 2 times in total.
Hasta la victoria siempre.
In my opinion the lack of aircraft on long-haul is a more than threatening issue for SN...
You can not support a 10+ destination network into Africa without some kind of resiliance.The fous on Africa is a good strategy and will ultimately pay-but half-assed solution will only create frustrated customers and financial controllers.
Swiss has clearly understood the message and will allocate part of the new Long-Haul capacities on African destinations.
The bread and butter of SN will come from their African network- so focus more on those issues !
You can not support a 10+ destination network into Africa without some kind of resiliance.The fous on Africa is a good strategy and will ultimately pay-but half-assed solution will only create frustrated customers and financial controllers.
Swiss has clearly understood the message and will allocate part of the new Long-Haul capacities on African destinations.
The bread and butter of SN will come from their African network- so focus more on those issues !
SN made it clear in their press conference that they are looking for a fourth plane for the long haul fleet. So please wait until they find one at a reasonable price. They are aware of the weak situation with 3 planes
But this time it's a blunder from the groundhandling. So please blame them for their acts
But this time it's a blunder from the groundhandling. So please blame them for their acts
I'm sorry but I disagree with you camel. Yes it's the ground handlings fault I'm not denying that. What I'm disagreeing with is the fact that SN is so called actively searching for a 4th plane since more then a year ?camel wrote:SN made it clear in their press conference that they are looking for a fourth plane for the long haul fleet. So please wait until they find one at a reasonable price.
We always hear the excuse that the planes on the market are too expensive ??? I can't believe this.
First of all they are leasing the planes AFAIK which means they don't need a lot of money to invest in buying a plane. Secondly all other companies manage to lease the planes at the higher rates and still make money with them. So why not SN ? Are they only able to make money with very cheap A330's and not with other more expensive long haul equipment ?
They won't find cheaper equipment by waiting. It's going to be harder every day as the competition is also getting more leased long haul planes...
All this to say that I completely agree with beaucaire.
Chris
Swiss took over some A340 of OS.AirDupont wrote:It will be very hard to find a 330 and especially a 333. They have missed some opportunities before and I'm sure they'll miss out on some more in the future. Why not take a 340 then? VS, OS, AC and I'm sure some other are getting rid of their -200's and -300's.
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tolipanebas
- Posts: 2442
- Joined: 12 May 2004, 00:00
It is indeed a fact doing 13 long haul destinations with only 3 planes can only be done on a very tight schedule, leading to delays if and when there is a small problem and outright cancelation of the next series of flights if there is a big problem like today.
SN knows this too and had the intention (and the go from the board) to expand with a 4th A330 already last year, but then Neil Burrows became our CEO and decided not to take this oportunity, since he thought the leasing prices were simply outrageous: the leasing of 1 A333 now costs 3 times more than when SN took the first 3 A330s, or otherwise said: adding 1 plane to the fleet of 3 would DOUBLE the leasing cost!!!
Obviously this is a much higher price then before, but provided SN makes good use of this plane, it could still be made to work profitable, yet we all know how European Low cost focussed Neil Burrows is.
With him going soon, there comes a new oportunity for SN and the Mr Vendeputte, CEO designate has understood the urgent importance of this issue, so he confirmed on Nov 7th the search has been restarted!
It is just an educated guess of mine, but I think SN will use this 4th plane NOT to expand in Africa, but to open a new North American destination, most likely Montreal (information a Belgian airline has asked for traffic rights between Montreal and Belgium can be found on this site).
If they do this, they achieve 2 things at a time:
-)they open a new transatlantic route which they've wanted for a long time
AND
-) they have a possiblity to (more) easily free up a plane of their own if and when an A330 gets stuck in Africa. It is much easier to reroute pax on North American destinations than it is on African destinations...
An A340 is not really a good option, and will be avoided if anyhow possible, since SN pilots fly on CCQ (A330/A319) and they may only combine 2 type ratings according to the Belgian CAA. If SN were to take an A340 anyhow, they'd loose some of the advantages of flying CCQ and with 2 such small fleets, this is really important....
SN knows this too and had the intention (and the go from the board) to expand with a 4th A330 already last year, but then Neil Burrows became our CEO and decided not to take this oportunity, since he thought the leasing prices were simply outrageous: the leasing of 1 A333 now costs 3 times more than when SN took the first 3 A330s, or otherwise said: adding 1 plane to the fleet of 3 would DOUBLE the leasing cost!!!
Obviously this is a much higher price then before, but provided SN makes good use of this plane, it could still be made to work profitable, yet we all know how European Low cost focussed Neil Burrows is.
With him going soon, there comes a new oportunity for SN and the Mr Vendeputte, CEO designate has understood the urgent importance of this issue, so he confirmed on Nov 7th the search has been restarted!
It is just an educated guess of mine, but I think SN will use this 4th plane NOT to expand in Africa, but to open a new North American destination, most likely Montreal (information a Belgian airline has asked for traffic rights between Montreal and Belgium can be found on this site).
If they do this, they achieve 2 things at a time:
-)they open a new transatlantic route which they've wanted for a long time
AND
-) they have a possiblity to (more) easily free up a plane of their own if and when an A330 gets stuck in Africa. It is much easier to reroute pax on North American destinations than it is on African destinations...
An A340 is not really a good option, and will be avoided if anyhow possible, since SN pilots fly on CCQ (A330/A319) and they may only combine 2 type ratings according to the Belgian CAA. If SN were to take an A340 anyhow, they'd loose some of the advantages of flying CCQ and with 2 such small fleets, this is really important....
camel wrote:SN made it clear in their press conference that they are looking for a fourth plane for the long haul fleet. So please wait until they find one at a reasonable price. They are aware of the weak situation with 3 plane
As it almost december, the new CEO better write a letter to Santa Claus, that is probably the only one who can provide an A333 for what SN calls "a reasonable price"
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BrightCedars
- Posts: 848
- Joined: 01 Sep 2005, 00:00
- Location: Brussels, Belgium
A 4th jet will not be the solution
I don't think a 4th A330 to be a solution to this kind of problem. If they get a 4th aircraft, I believe that they will not any more be in a position to let the fleet rest on the tarmac here and there. Let's face it, they should be providing 21 rotations a week with a fleet of 3 and they'll have to provide 28 once they have a 4th one. Otherwise they will bleed money.
As for Montreal, I don't think it has ever been profitable for Sabena. A francophone market? So what! If the yield is junk it's not worth going. And how often? Couple times a week? Useless for connections and competition. Is there that big of an Africa-Canada market? Then I'd expect and AC 787 to land in DKR or near and kill thru-Europe altogether.
They have to get closer to an alliance and oneworld is the only option they have. BA will support the African network and AA will probably provide the connectivity to Latin America via MIA. I think the deal would be that SN operate the symbolic NY run on their own metal for AA to open up the MIA-BRU route.
New longhaul (even shorthaul) orders are not for now unless the strategic partner and alliance are chosen soon. SN will not buy new builds and risk choosing a type not common with whom will become the big brother (in my opinion: BA). It is in that respect that leasing a 4th A330 presently is the only viable option.
SN shareholders are still obsessed with only one thing: making it sustainably profitable in Europe and longhaul so that a strategic partner opens its wallet in due time, the sooner the better. The plan was written (maybe even agreed upon) 5 years ago and it's being sticked to since the very 1st day.
Only a partner like BA will be able to provide SN with a decent pooled aircraft to face such painful circumstances as the onces with are discussing now.
As for Montreal, I don't think it has ever been profitable for Sabena. A francophone market? So what! If the yield is junk it's not worth going. And how often? Couple times a week? Useless for connections and competition. Is there that big of an Africa-Canada market? Then I'd expect and AC 787 to land in DKR or near and kill thru-Europe altogether.
They have to get closer to an alliance and oneworld is the only option they have. BA will support the African network and AA will probably provide the connectivity to Latin America via MIA. I think the deal would be that SN operate the symbolic NY run on their own metal for AA to open up the MIA-BRU route.
New longhaul (even shorthaul) orders are not for now unless the strategic partner and alliance are chosen soon. SN will not buy new builds and risk choosing a type not common with whom will become the big brother (in my opinion: BA). It is in that respect that leasing a 4th A330 presently is the only viable option.
SN shareholders are still obsessed with only one thing: making it sustainably profitable in Europe and longhaul so that a strategic partner opens its wallet in due time, the sooner the better. The plan was written (maybe even agreed upon) 5 years ago and it's being sticked to since the very 1st day.
Only a partner like BA will be able to provide SN with a decent pooled aircraft to face such painful circumstances as the onces with are discussing now.