Over the weekend, an Edelweiss Airbus A340 suffered a problem with it’s landing gear, forcing a return back to Zurich.
Information has been released pertinent to the incident at hand.
Below is what we know on this so far…
Edelweiss Flight WK34 – Zurich to Punta Cana…
Edelweiss flight WK34, which suffered the problem, is a routine scheduled flight between Zurich and Punta Cana.
Furthermore, the aircraft involved in the incident was HB-JMC.
As per data from Planespotters.net, HB-JMC, the aircraft involved in the Zurich incident, is a 23.2 year old Airbus A340-300 that started out life with SWISS back in October 2003.
In April 2023, the aircraft was handed over to Edelweiss, where it has been since.
Of the A340-300 variant, Edelweiss has just three of them, of which all three are in active service, with an average age of 23.1 years.
As well as the A340-300, the Swiss carrier has the following other aircraft in their fleet:
- 16 Airbus A320s.
- 4 Airbus A350s.
In total, the airline has 23 aircraft in their fleet, of which all are in active service, with an average fleet age of 18.4 years.
Edelweiss flight WK34, which suffered the landing gear problem, departed from Zurich at 1334 local time on October 17 and initially climbed out towards Punta Cana.
However, following the discovery of the problem, the aircraft had to burn fuel to get to a safe landing weight.
After nearly two hours in the air, the aircraft landed safely without further incident.
What Was The Cause of the Landing Gear Problem?
As per information from The Aviation Herald, it is understood that the door of the center landing gear did not close properly due to a torn/broken belt.
It is understood that this was replaced, which took around two hours, and the aircraft was able to depart from Zurich once again bound for Punta Cana.
At the time of publication, HB-JMC is currently flying, with no additional issues reported.
If we acquire anymore information, we will update you accordingly.
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