# Airplane breakdowns



## west point (May 5, 2022)

Barbie jet loses part of wing. Right winglet, picture not clear how much of wing came off.

Dallas-bound flight from Charleston diverted after losing part of wing (msn.com)


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## jis (May 5, 2022)

west point said:


> Barbie jet loses part of wing. Right winglet, picture not clear how much of wing came off.
> 
> Dallas-bound flight from Charleston diverted after losing part of wing (msn.com)


Well, from the article it is very clear that the winglet came off and there was not much visible damage to the wing itself. The article title is of course designed to attract more clicks 

The title of the thread on airliners.net is more accurate.





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Envoy E175 Drops Winglet in Turbulence - Airliners.net






www.airliners.net


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## Devil's Advocate (May 5, 2022)

Losing a factory installed winglet is a rare event to my knowledge. Although they look small from a typical passenger distance these are large and substantial structures up close. It just so happens that my next flight is scheduled to be an Envoy E175 so I'll keep an eye out to see if this goes anywhere.


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## WWW (May 5, 2022)

Wonder if there is a corresponding part on an Amtrak locomotive ? LOL !


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## jis (May 5, 2022)

Devil's Advocate said:


> Losing a factory installed winglet is a rare event to my knowledge. Although they look small from a typical passenger distance these are large and substantial structures up close. It just so happens that my next flight is scheduled to be an Envoy E175 so I'll keep an eye out to see if this goes anywhere.


Better hold on tight to that Winglet


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## Devil's Advocate (May 5, 2022)

jis said:


> Better hold on tight to that Winglet


I was mainly thinking about operational delays for winglet inspections but I guess they could just start falling out of the sky for all I know.


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## Devil's Advocate (May 5, 2022)

*“*Well there's your problem*”*​


WWW said:


> Wonder if there is a corresponding part on an Amtrak locomotive ? LOL !


I think Amtrak is still a generation (or three) away from airfoil speeds so maybe instead of winglets we can get Amtrak to install washlets instead.



Dakota 400 said:


> If I was sitting on the right side of that plane and saw that, I'd ask the Flight Attendant for a triple CC/7 immediately!


For some reason the FA's always seem to sit down during the really exciting bits, which is why you need to pack a few 50ml minis or 100ml doubles.


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## Dakota 400 (May 5, 2022)

west point said:


> Barbie jet loses part of wing. Right winglet, picture not clear how much of wing came off.
> 
> Dallas-bound flight from Charleston diverted after losing part of wing (msn.com)



If I was sitting on the right side of that plane and saw that, I'd ask the Flight Attendant for a triple CC/7 immediately! 

I was on a Delta flight from DAY to ATL (MD-88) that experienced really severe turbulence that bounced us around severely and caused sounds that I had have never heard when flying. The pilot warned us a few minutes before this happened, so we were all well buckled tight. But, it was a very apprehensive few minutes for me.


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## AmtrakBlue (May 5, 2022)

I probably would say, "Oops, we dropped something". And pray we don't nosedive to try to grab it.


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## caravanman (May 5, 2022)

Having acquired a lock down fascination with youtube travel videos, I can assure you that while bits may not drop off planes that frequently, a lot of stuff does seem to hit the fans frequently! (pun intended...)


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## jiml (May 5, 2022)

AA flew a 737-800 for some time with only one winglet. It was well-documented elsewhere and I actually flew on it. No big deal. They tweak something in the flight computer and all is well.


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## WWW (May 5, 2022)

Its OK the plane only wants to make left boomerang turns -
or something about the right wing wanting to get there faster.


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## Devil's Advocate (May 5, 2022)

jiml said:


> AA flew a 737-800 for some time with only one winglet. It was well-documented elsewhere and I actually flew on it. No big deal. They tweak something in the flight computer and all is well.


Flying sans winglet may be no big deal but the experience of _losing_ the winglet could be profound.


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## HenryK (May 6, 2022)

jis said:


> Well, from the article it is very clear that the winglet came off and there was not much visible damage to the wing itself. The article title is of course designed to attract more clicks
> 
> The title of the thread on airliners.net is more accurate.
> 
> ...


Well, msn.com is a general-audience medium and airliners.net is attuned to aviation enthusiasts. Unlikely that the average msn.com reader would know what a winglet is. Either headline tells the story.


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## railiner (May 6, 2022)

So much for the pilot’s assurances during severe turbulence, that the airplane was built to handle it, and it only causes discomfort to the passengers within…

I wonder if it was a design flaw, or a maintenance issue?


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## basketmaker (May 6, 2022)

All the winglet does is improve fuel economy and even that is questionable. Some manufacturers have moved away from them. Like Boeing's 747-800 versus the 747-400.


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## jis (May 6, 2022)

basketmaker said:


> All the winglet does is improve fuel economy and even that is questionable. Some manufacturers have moved away from them. Like Boeing's 747-800 versus the 747-400.


Wing tip ornaments, whether as winglets or special raking and such actually does help fuel efficiency sufficiently which is why airlines spend the money to install them. The 747-8 wing uses a raked wingtip extension instead of the 747-400 style winglet to get similar effect. This is also seen in the next gen planes like the 787s and A350s. The whole thing has to do with damping wing tip vortex to reduce drag.

There was a time when Boeing had said they will never use wingtip ornaments on any of their aircraft when Airbus started installing wingtip fences on theirs. Then within a year of the grand declaration we saw the 747-400 come out with giant winglets.  Many jokingly said that Boeing figured that it presented a nice surface for the airlines to present their brand colors in flight


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## Devil's Advocate (May 6, 2022)

railiner said:


> So much for the pilot’s assurances during severe turbulence, that the airplane was built to handle it, and it only causes discomfort to the passengers within… I wonder if it was a design flaw, or a maintenance issue?


It's also possible that the flight exceeded the winglet's design limits through no fault of the pilots or maintenance crew. We'll just have to see where things go from here.


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## west point (May 6, 2022)

Devil's Advocate said:


> It's also possible that the flight exceeded the winglet's design limits through no fault of the pilots or maintenance crew. We'll just have to see where things go from here.


Sudden "G" forces If sudden negative and then positive then possible calmative effect much greater than just positive?


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## Devil's Advocate (May 7, 2022)

There was no failure (or grounding) of my Envoy E175 and both winglets remained fully intact.  The MQ service staff charged me for drinks despite booking MCE but other than that it was fine. Even got to ride a late Amtrak train to boot!


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## jiml (May 7, 2022)

Devil's Advocate said:


> The MQ service staff charged me for drinks despite booking MCE


Sounds like some bonus AA miles headed your way if you take the time to complain.


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