Airbus Beluga Gets Stuck In The Mud In France
An Airbus BelugaXL suffered an incident in France after taxiing off the runway and getting stuck in the mud. The giant aircraft remains in its position at the time of publication. Let's take a closer look at this incident below.
Beached Beluga after runway excursion
One of Airbus' mammoth A330-700L planes, popularly known as the Airbus BelugaXL, has become stuck off the runway at Albert Picardie Airport (BYF) in France. The huge cargo plane was in the process of backtracking after landing, but things took a turn for the worse when the Beluga's nose gear came off the runway.
Images of the aircraft show its nose gear covered in mud as emergency services scramble to get the plane unstuck. Given the sheer size of the plane at over 63 meters long, they are understandably having difficulty in removing the plane from its predicament.
According to AvHerald, the plane is still stuck in the mud at the time of publication, adding that after landing, the plane "rolled to the end, turned into the turn pad to begin the 180 degrees turn for backtracking, and completed about 135 degrees of the turn but then became disabled with the nose gear off the paved surface in the grass."
The Airbus BelugaXL (registration: F-GXLN) was operating flight BG-127N from Saint-Nazaire Montoir Airport (SNR) to Albert Picardie Airport and had landed successfully at 12:47 on runway 27. For those seeking to understand how and why this incident occurred, take a closer look at our detailed article on why runway excursions happen and how they can be prevented.
About F-GXLN
F-GXLN is an Airbus A330-700L that only entered service this summer. The plane is one of six BelugaXL aircraft built by Airbus and took its first flight in July before entering active duty in September.
The BelugaXL offers 30% more capacity than the BelugaST (Super Transporter) and has a massive maximum takeoff weight (MTOW0 of 227,000kg, making it one of the largest planes ever made. The BelugaXL will eventually replace Airbus' older BelugaST aircraft, which are set to be phased out of service in the coming years.
Runway remains closed
With the Airbus Beluga still stuck in its position after the runway excursion, Albert Picardie Airport's runway has been closed. BYF is a public airport with a runway large enough to accommodate the giant Beluga plane and is often used by Airbus to transport materials from its nearby facility at Meaulte.
