Well, I’m thankful that this ended the way it did. Yesterday afternoon an American Airlines 777-300ER caught fire while loading cargo at Hong Kong Airport. This aircraft was slated to operate American Airlines’ flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, and was loading cargo when passengers waiting to board at gate 42 saw the blaze on their 777-300ER.
The aircraft that was involved was aircraft N727AN, a three-year-old 777 that had just flown in from Los Angeles the day prior.
American Airlines Boeing 777 Departing Hong Kong Airport
While the aircraft seemed to be unscathed by the blaze, in a measure of safety American Airlines canceled yesterday’s flight between Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
While no passengers or crew were hurt, it does seem like a worker was hurt when jumping off the vehicle onto the ground when the vehicle loading cargo caught fire. It was brave of him to jump from the height that it appeared he did, and I hope he gets well soon.
Bottom Line
It continues to amaze me how regulated air travel is. A small blip could cause drastically different conclusions based on where it happens – if the cargo had set ablaze in the air, more than 300 passengers onboard that flight would have been killed. I also appreciate that American Airlines decided to cancel the flight for safety checks despite the aircraft being relatively unmarked after the incident, unlike a certain airline I know that decided to proceed operations after scratching their 777 across the runway lights, then proceeded to BS their way through the aftermath of the incident.
I send my best wishes to the man who jumped off the vehicle onto the ground, and all other passengers that this fire affected.
another copy post from OMAAT……