On Friday, October 25th, a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 found itself in a unique situation. 

While taxiing to the runway for takeoff, the right main landing gear sunk into a drainage hole at Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH). 
 

The plane involved in the incident was a 10 year-old Boeing 787-8 registered as A7-BCV. The aircraft had previously returned to Doha after an overnight flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB). 

Various photographs have surfaced online, showing the aircraft at an odd angle and surrounded by Qatar Airways staff. Passengers were evacuated from the plane by a mobile airstrip vehicle and ushered onto Hamad Airport shuttle busses to be transported back to the terminal. 

The accident caused the aircraft to fall forcefully on its right engine. The damage caused to the inside of the jet engine is unknown, although flightsafety.org has reported the damage caused to the aircraft as ‘substantial.’ 

In a statement to AeroXplorer, a Qatar Airways spokesperson said: “On 25 October, at Hamad International Airport, while taxiing, the right landing gear of a Qatar Airways aircraft struck an on-ground structure causing the right engine to make contact with the ground.”

“No injuries were reported and all passengers on-board were safely disembarked and were put on a later flight.” 

It is currently unclear whether the drainage hole was left open or unsecured which may have allowed the aircraft’s landing gear to fall into the ground. 

The impacted aircraft has been moved into maintenance to perform an extensive safety inspection on its engine. Qatar Airways engineers will most likely have to inspect engine mounting points, inlets, and fans due to the high force caused by the impact. A7-BCV is still out of service as of Sunday, October 27th. 

Qatari authorities have already launched an investigation into the incident and there were no reported injuries. 

While gear collapses and aircraft falling into sewage holes are relatively uncommon, a similar incident occurred in 2021 to a British Airways 787-8. In June of 2021, the nose gear of a British Airways aircraft suddenly collapsed at Heathrow Airport in London, causing severe damage to the aircraft’s forward fuselage and nose cone. 

In addition, in 2023, a Ryanair 737’s nose gear collapsed after landing at Dublin Airport and forced dozens of delays and cancellations due to a closed runway in Dublin.