An Airbus A340 Got Burned in a Bizarre Accident
An Airbus A340 was damaged seriously in Frankfurt on Monday morning in an unusual accident involving a tow truck catching fire and burning the airplane. The Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 was being towed when the truck caught fire, damaging the front of the plane. The plane was unoccupied by passengers or crew as it was just being towed, however 10 people were reportedly taken to the hospital after inhaling smoke from the fire.
Images and video footage of the scene fire quickly appeared on Twitter. In the tweets, you can see charring at the nose of the plane and smoke billowing around the front of the A340.
Thankfully, Frankfurt airport didn't experience any delays due to the incident. A reserve plane was able to replace the A340-300 for its scheduled afternoon flight to Philadelphia.
What happens to a plane after it's been in an accident can vary depending upon many factors. They often end up back in the air after being repaired, but Lufthansa may decide this particular jet is too old to be economically repaired and put back in service. The Airbus, bearing the German registration D-AIFA, was delivered in 2000 according to fleet tracking site Planespotters.net, making it 18 years old. The site also lists as one of the A340s Lufthansa reconfigured for use on routes where premium demand isn't heavy, with just 18 business class seats and 19 in premium economy. Lufthansa is replacing its four-engined A340s with the newer, twin-engined A350s — which TPG's Zach Honig reviewed in business class.
