Airbus Updates No.2757

American Airlines To Scrap Airbus A321 Involved In Take-Off Wing Strike

An American Airlines A321 that was involved in a take-off wing strike in April 2019 will not return to service. The decision comes 15 months after the incident. During that time, the plane has sat idle at New York’s Kennedy Airport. It is another chapter in an underreported incident that came dangerously close to a disaster.

American Airlines N114NN will get scrapped following an incident in April 2019. Photo: Anna Zvereva via Wikimedia Commons

The incident occurred on April 10, 2019. The leased Airbus A321 is registered as N114NN and has been with American Airlines for six-plus years. On the evening of April 10, N114NN was to operate AA300 from New York’s Kennedy Airport across to Los Angeles.

Aircraft experiences an uncontrolled roll, clips sign and pole

As Simple Flying reported, the aircraft experienced an uncontrolled 45° roll when taking off. The plane’s wing clipped a sign and a pole on the ground. The aircraft took off and climbed without further incident. N114NN ascended to 20,000 feet before turning and making a safe landing back at Kennedy.

“There’s a good crosswind, but we had an uncommanded roll to the left as we rotated,” the pilot told ATC.

“We were banking, uncontrolled bank 45 degrees to the left.”

Back on the ground, the extent of the damage became clear, and N114NN has not flown since.

A clipped sign, but could have got a lot worse

The incident and eventual fate of N114NN may prove to be one of history’s more expensive sideswipes of a sign.

Despite the aircraft remaining in the air for 30 minutes and landing safely, there are some reports that the April 10 incident could have ended very badly.

There were 110 people on board the flight. One unnamed source who was “briefed on the incident,” told CBS News;

“That was as close as anybody would ever want to come to crashing.” 

The uncommanded roll occurred just as the Airbus was starting to take-off. As CBS News notes, the force of the impact bent the wing.

There is a suggestion the pilots didn’t anticipate the severity of the winds and did not deflect or apply enough rudder to keep the aircraft centered.

The National Safety and Transportation Bureau (NTSB) is formally investigating the incident. American Airlines is co-operating fully in addition to conducting its own investigation. Neither AA nor the NTSB have published their findings on the incident. When they do, it should make for some interesting reading.