Flight Safety Information - August 25, 2026 No. 166 In This Issue : Accident: Swiss B773 over Atlantic on Aug 25th 2026, odour on board : Incident: Westjet B38M at Regina on Aug 14th 2026, engine shut down in flight : Incident: Easyjet A319 at Rimini on Aug 19th 2026, engine problem : Incident: Delta A333 near St. John's on Aug 23rd 2026, engine problem : Incident: Iberia A359 at Buenos Aires on Aug 20th 2026, engine problem : Incident: Lingus A21N at Dublin on Aug 23rd 2026, fumes on board : India aviation ministry considering mandatory drug tests for pilots : Satellite Device Guides Cessna Accident Rescue : Montreal airport worker seriously injured after being struck by aircraft : Boeing Asked FAA To Be Stricter On 767 Wings, FAA Declined : FAA Order: First Class Passengers Will No Longer Be Able To Sip Beverages After Pushback : American May Ditch Boeing for an Airbus Surprise : Turn Them Into Bean Tins, Says Emirates : New Book Available – Get the Back Stories! : Calendar of Events Accident: Swiss B773 over Atlantic on Aug 25th 2026, odour on board A Swiss International Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration HB-JNF performing flight LX-9 (dep Aug 24th) from Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA) to Zurich (Switzerland) with 222 passengers and 16 crew, was enroute at FL370 about 780nm northnorthwest of Lajes, Terceira (Portugal) when the crew decided to divert to Lajes due to an acrid odour in the economy class. The aircraft landed safely on Lajes' runway 33 about 90 minutes later. Five passenger and one cabin crew needed medical attention. The airline reported an unidentifyable pungent odour in the economy class prompted the crew to divert as a precaution. 5 passengers and one cabin crew showed symptoms like irritated eyes, nausea and headache and were medically checked, no further treatment was necessary. The cause of the odour is still unclear. A replacement aircraft has been dispatched to Lajes. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration HB-JNK is scheduled to depart for Terceira at 14:00L (Zurich time, 12:00Z). https://avherald.com/h?article=53e9c814&opt=0 Incident: Westjet B38M at Regina on Aug 14th 2026, engine shut down in flight A Westjet Boeing 737-8, registration C-FULJ pereforming flight WS-755 (dep Aug 13th) from Toronto,ON to Regina,SK (Canada) with 153 people on board, was descending towards Regina when the crew observed a right hand engine (LEAP) oil filter bypass indication and shut the engine down as a precaution. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Regina's runway 13. The Canadian TSB reported that the engine needs to be replaced. The occurrence aircraft returned to service on Aug 24th 2026. https://avherald.com/h?article=53e88e07&opt=0 Incident: Easyjet A319 at Rimini on Aug 19th 2026, engine problem An Easyjet Airbus A319-100, registration G-EZAN performing flight U2-8378 from Rimini (Italy) to London Gatwick,EN (UK), was climbing out of Rimini's runway 13 when the crew stopped the climb at 5000 feet due to an engine (CFM56) problem and returned to Rimini for a safe landing on runway 13 about 35 minutes after departure. A replacement A319-100 registration G-EZOX reached London with a delay of about 7 hours. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 29 hours, then returned to London and resumed service. https://avherald.com/h?article=53e8899c&opt=0 Incident: Delta A333 near St. John's on Aug 23rd 2026, engine problem A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N823NW performing flight DL-182 from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Rome Fuimicino (Italy) with 267 passengers and 13 crw, was enroute at FL350 about 240nm northeast of St. John's,NL (Canada) when the crew decided to turn around and divert to St. John's due to an engine (CF6) problem. The airline reported a mechanical problem. Local Authorities reported an engine issue. Passengers reported "an engine blew". An Airbus A330-900 registration N428DX positioned to St. John's and returned the passengers to New York. https://avherald.com/h?article=53e88486&opt=0 Incident: Iberia A359 at Buenos Aires on Aug 20th 2026, engine problem An Iberia Airbus A350-900, registration EC-MYX performing flight IB-106 from Buenos Aires Ezeiza,BA (Argentina) to Madrid,SP (Spain), was climbing out of Ezeiza's runway 11 when the crew stopped the climb at FL100 and decided to return to Ezeiza for a safe landing on runway 11 about 25 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 18 hours, then departed again to Madrid, this time as flight IB-48, taking off from runway 11 but needed to return to Ezeiza again for a safe landing on runway 11 about 30 minutes after departure. A passenger reported that later cabin crew advised a false engine (Trent XWB) oil quantity indication had occurred. After waiting for about 2-3 hours on board of the aircraft the flight was re-scheduled for the next day as IB-48. The aircraft departed again but needed to return again. The passenger added that cabin crew stated, that the airline talked to the manufacturer whether it was safe to operate in this condition, however, anyone feeling unsafe in this condition could disembark. The aircraft finally departed and reached Madrid. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3 hours, then departed again as flight IB-42 and reached Madrid with a total delay of 22 hours. The aircraft remained on the ground in Madrid for about 40 hours before returning to service. https://avherald.com/h?article=53e81f3f&opt=0 Incident: Lingus A21N at Dublin on Aug 23rd 2026, fumes on board An Aer Lingus Airbus A321-200N, registration EI-LRF performing flight EI-101 from Dublin (Ireland) to Newark,NJ (USA) with 170 people on board, was climbing out of Dublin's runway 10R when the crew stopped the climb at FL120 and subsequently declared PAN PAN reporting they had had three fume events and requesting emergency services to meet them and follow them to the apron, they were landing overweight. The aircraft landed safely on Dublin's runway 10L about 50 minutes after departure. A replacement A321-200N registration EI-XLT reached Newark with a delay of about 4:15 hours. According to information The Aviation Herald received the fumes were noticed in the forward cabin, the crew did not don the oxygen masks (their transmissions to ATC don't suggest they had donned their oxygen masks, too). The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Dublin 24 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=53e81283&opt=0 India aviation ministry considering mandatory drug tests for pilots Air India recently ordered mandatory dope tests for all its pilots amid a row over a captain of its Phuket-Delhi flight testing positive for marijuana The Indian aviation ministry is considering mandatory random dope tests for all pilots at least once a year, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said today. Air India recently ordered mandatory dope tests for all its pilots amid a row over a captain of its Phuket-Delhi flight testing positive for marijuana. The current rules in India require dope testing of 10% of the overall pilot network, but the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is examining whether testing can be expanded to cover every pilot at a random time during the year. The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel "There are multiple ways of approaching this dope test. Right now, the rule says 10% across the overall pilot network. The DGCA is engaging and one of the opinions from our side is that everyone has to go through it in the year at a random time," Naidu told reporters in New Delhi. The minister added the government would need to balance aviation safety with the operational impact of implementing 100% testing. "We have to see how all the stakeholders are going to respond to this because one is the safety aspect of it and the second thing is the operational impact, which also has to be taken into consideration," he said. Naidu also said the DGCA is holding consultations with stakeholders on existing regulations concerning substance use and ways to strengthen the policy. "More importantly, in terms of substance use and everything, the DGCA is also having stakeholder consultations right now on what the regulation says today and how we ensure there is a strict policy around this in the future as well. So, this consultation is going on right now," he said. https://www.tbsnews.net/world/south-asia/india-aviation-ministry-considering-mandatory-drug-tests-pilots-1524371 Satellite Device Guides Cessna Accident Rescue Alaska Air National Guard says the two-way communicator provided a more precise location than the aircraft’s 406 MHz ELT. Satellite Device Helps Guide Rescuers To Cessna 180 Occupants [Alaska Air National Guard photo by David Bedard] Key Takeaways: Alaska Air National Guard crews rescued three occupants of a Cessna 180 following an Aug. 18 accident near Bettles, Alaska, about 200 miles northwest of Fairbanks. The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened the mission after receiving a signal from the aircraft’s 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter and requested assistance from the 176th Wing. Updated Coordinates A 210th Rescue Squadron Detachment 1 HH-60W Jolly Green II departed Eielson Air Force Base carrying pararescuemen from the 212th Rescue Squadron. While the helicopter was proceeding toward the position transmitted by the ELT, the crew received updated coordinates from a commercial two-way satellite communication device used by the aircraft occupants. The occupants had sent the location to a Bettles lodge owner, who relayed it to the rescue crew. “It minimizes the time searching for someone in the Alaska wilderness,” Maj. Tyler Seibold, a 210th Rescue Squadron pilot, said in an Alaska National Guard release. “So, if their medical condition is dire, that is extra time that we can get treatment on the patient.” Three Transported To Fairbanks The helicopter crew located the accident site and lowered the pararescuemen to the ground a short distance from the occupants to reduce rotor-wash exposure. One occupant was placed in a Stokes litter and hoisted aboard the helicopter before the other two occupants were recovered. All three were transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. According to Seibold, a satellite communication device can sometimes provide rescuers a location accurate to within about one-tenth of a mile, while coordinates from a 406 MHz ELT can require crews to search an area extending a mile or more. He also noted that many satellite devices can exchange text messages when paired with a smartphone, allowing rescue personnel to obtain information about occupant condition and conditions at the accident site before arriving. “[The plane’s occupants] did everything they could by the book, and that really cut down on how long it took us to get to them and get them to a higher level of medical care,” he said. https://avweb.com/flight-safety/accidents-ntsb/satellite-device-cessna-accident-rescue/ Montreal airport worker seriously injured after being struck by aircraft An airport worker was struck by an aircraft ( Airbus A-350) at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. An airport worker was taken to the hospital in serious condition after being struck by an aircraft at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Monday evening, Montreal police said. Emergency services were called to the scene at 7:30 p.m. after a man was struck by an airplane that was backing up on the airport tarmac. Montreal police said the case has been transferred to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Officers and crime scene investigators remained at the scene to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. The Montreal airport told CTV News that operations are continuing but encouraged passengers to check the status of their flight directly with their airline. https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/montreal-airport-worker-seriously-injured-after-being-struck-by-aircraft/ Boeing Asked FAA To Be Stricter On 767 Wings, FAA Declined Boeing told the FAA its 767 wing inspections start too late. The FAA said no, blamed the wrong company, and assumed the repairs were done right. What The Directive Covers The FAA published a final airworthiness directive on August 13 covering Boeing 767-300 and 767-300F aircraft fitted with blended winglets. The document is AD 2026-16-06, it takes effect September 17, and it replaces a directive the agency issued back in 2018. The affected fleet is 195 airplanes of US registry, with the largest US passenger operators United Airlines, Delta Air Lines. The problem is fatigue cracking in the lower outboard wing skin, at the inboard fastener of stringer L-9.5 and along stringer L-6.5, on aircraft modified with the Aviation Partners winglet kit. The FAA described the potential risk in its own terms: the condition, if not addressed, “could result in failure and subsequent separation of the wing and winglet and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.” Sounds serious to me, but it’s smaller than I presumed it would be. The recurring inspection runs six work-hours at $85 an hour, or $510 per cycle per airplane, which the FAA totals at $99,450 across the US fleet. This is a less than $100,000 problem but it sounds incredibly concerning. Boeing Asked For A Shorter Clock Seven parties commented on the proposal. United Airlines and two others supported it without change. Aviation Partners, Delta Air Lines and FedEx asked for clarifications and typo fixes. A vendor called Obelisk Tech Systems boldly demanded the fleet be grounded within thirty days while requesting a sole-source federal contract for its own drone inspection technology, which the FAA declined. Then there is Boeing. The airframer asked the FAA to make the rule stricter than proposed. Boeing wanted the new Group 3 inspections completed within 3,000 flight cycles of the effective date, and its stated reason was pointed. In the FAA’s summary, “Boeing stated that the fleet finding showing additional inspection requirements were needed for Group 3 airplanes also showed the threshold to start the inspections was not adequate and should be reduced.” Beleaguered Boeing can ill-afford any posture that isn’t absolutely the strcitest as it continues its recovery from the 737 MAX safety issues and strives to close out its 777-X series certifications. It felt that the point at which operators are told to start looking is too late. Manufacturers do not usually volunteer for tighter regulatory clocks on their own products but in times like these for Boeing it makes sense to be prudent. Warranty exposure, service-bulletin costs and customer relations all hurt Boeing to push this outcome but it’s far worse if something were to happen, even without an injury or fatality. The Response Faults The Wrong Party The FAA said no. Here is the full basis for the denial, quoted from the directive: “The FAA has determined that the threshold and intervals identified in the APB service information for Group 3 airplanes is adequate for addressing the unsafe condition. APB has not provided the FAA with any new analysis that showed those thresholds and intervals need to be adjusted if the repairs were installed correctly.” There are two problems with that statement. Boeing made the request, not Aviation Partners, so the agency rejected one company’s safety argument on the grounds that a different company failed to submit paperwork according to my research. It’s not clear who asked Aviation Partners to weigh in, and Aviation Partners had no reason to produce one, since its own service bulletin is the document under challenge. The second problem is the conditional ending. The threshold is adequate “if the repairs were installed correctly.” The new inspection this directive adds looks specifically at the wing skin around the edges of previously installed repair doublers. Installing that doubler, from what I understand without being an engineer, was one of the three options the FAA gave operators back in 2018 to satisfy the earlier directive. The agency is now requiring operators to inspect the repair it previously approved, while declining to tighten the schedule on the theory that the repair was done properly. This leads one to ask: if the repair was only needed for aircraft that hadn’t performed in eight years ago, and the FAA already approved that fix, why is any directive needed now? And the one participant that should be at the forefront of fighting on such a basis is the party trying to expedite the inspections. It seems to me that either the repairs weren’t actually the solution, weren’t effective, or Boeing knows something the rest don’t. The Same Pattern On The 787 The day before this directive published, the FAA proposed superseding a 2022 directive on 787 vertical fin tension bolts, covering 116 US-registered aircraft at $38,260 apiece, up to $4,4MM in total. The failure mode there is corrosion that could drop the structure below residual strength requirements and cause “the loss of the vertical fin, and result in loss of control of the airplane.” This reminds me of the many jackscrew cases on DC-9/MD-80 aircraft. Why reopen it? Because, as the FAA says, corrosion found while operators were complying with the 2022 rule “in some cases, was more severe than expected.” And because the sealant options that the rule permitted “may not provide sufficient time to complete all bolt installations. This could damage the sealant during fastener installation, rendering the actions in that service information ineffective.” That is the FAA stating that a method it authorized four years ago could have made the fix useless. It is a candid document, and the candor is to the agency’s credit even if it doesn’t completely own the issue. It also means the 787 – now responsible for flying the most US long-haul premium cabins – is on its second directive for the same corrosion because the first one was written too loosely. The comment period on that proposal closes September 28, and Boeing notes some costs may fall under warranty. That’s some bad news for Boeing, but generally speaking, is a drop in the bucket and very inexpensive when the cost of another PR nightmare comes into effect. While it all appears to be grave in nature, it’s less severe than suggested. The greater concern, and it lines up with what I found earlier this month when a fresh airworthiness directive undercut Boeing’s own certification announcement within forty-eight hours, is that in some cases it seems the FAA isn’t fast enough for these repairs according the manufacturer. Conclusion This directive is about the -300 and the freighter, the workhorses hauling boxes and filling secondary passenger routes, and 195 of them is a modest number against a US fleet of several thousand jets. The wingtip separating from the wing would be terrifying in flight and that’s likely more of Boeing’s speed push, but this has happened before without significantly impacting flight operations. What deserves attention is a regulator that received a request to be stricter from the manufacturer, turned it down by citing the absence of analysis from a company that was never asked to provide any, and rested the decision on the presumption that a repair it is simultaneously ordering people to go inspect was installed correctly the first time. That’s a turn I didn’t expect, though whether for PR purposes or a true turnaround in safety culture at Boeing, it’s a welcome sign to see they are pushing for safety even at their financial detriment. https://liveandletsfly.com/boeing-asked-faa-to-be-stricter-on-767-wings-faa-declined/ FAA Order: First Class Passengers Will No Longer Be Able To Sip Beverages After Pushback United Airlines is also believed to have informed its flight attendants of the upcoming change. There has also been speculation that the move may influence flight crews to completely omit pre-depature beverages on narrowbody aircraft moving forward. JonNYC mentioned "input" from an unnamed source, which hints at the possibility. Our reporting was updated on Sunday, August 23, to include late developments regarding the timeline for other US airlines' possible implementation of the order, and the discussion of which carriers have been known to offer a pre-departure beverage service. This report was originally published on Saturday, August 22. After 35 years since the law was imposed, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will now mandate that first-class passengers will not be permitted to hold onto provided service items, such as paper and plastic cups, during pushback. As first reported by View From The Wing, this will result in less time for pre-departure beverages. This comes from the FAA's industry-wide change, which means flight attendants must begin pre-departure beverage service earlier in the boarding process and collect cups before pushback. What contradicts this move is that if you have brought your own beverage onboard, you can keep hold of it, but theoretically it should be stowed. Making Sense of The FAA Beverage Rules Aviation insider JonNYC confirmed that beginning September 1, flight attendants will be required to collect provided service items on flights, including both disposable and nondisposable items. This change will affect first-class passengers who have previously enjoyed pre-flight beverages. The change applies across the industry and will require airlines to collect and stow service items before pushback. Flights that offer pre-departure disposable service ware will have brief pre-flight service, and drinks will be collected before pushback. The bureaucratic move means the cup will be confiscated before the plane begins to move, and personal drinks brought onboard can be kept, but legally they should be properly stowed, according to View From The Wing. This Rule Has Been In Place For More Than Three Decades Airlines may not move aircraft if onboard food, beverages, or other serviceware remain in passengers' seats. The FAA is now enforcing 14 CFR §121.577, which has been in place since 1992 but not fully enforced. Until now, airlines have been allowed to provide service ware that could be collected until the safety demonstration and taxi. Why are U.S. airlines now required to collect first-class pre-departure beverage cups before aircraft pushback? Because the FAA introduced a brand-new safety regulation in 2026 Because airports requested shorter boarding times for all flights Because airlines voluntarily changed their own policies without any FAA input Because the FAA decided to fully enforce an existing rule that has been in place for decades The recently enforced rule will now address the collection of paper and plastic cups before movement, meaning all galley items must now be stowed before the aircraft begins moving, as they are otherwise believed to be an evacuation hazard and could slow evacuations during an incident. As already explained, the new requirement applies only to service items the airline provides and does not apply if you bring your own beverage, including hot drinks purchased in the terminal. However, technically, this is part of your baggage and should be stowed. Here's What Cabin Crew Notice About Passengers Flying Business Class For The 1st Time Premium cabin demand has only continued to grow. Delta Air Lines has moved quickly on the new rules, with the airline now reportedly requesting flight attendants to start their pre-flight beverage service earlier. This is expected to be enforced across all major US carriers, and while the rule was set out more than 35 years ago, it seems the mandate is now coming into effect. Many have wondered whether the change will reduce the perceived value of first-class tickets. A Reddit discussion refers to a Delta flight attendant who received communication from the FAA that all carrier-provided service items must now be collected before aircraft pushback, including all disposable cups and pre-departure drinks. United Airlines is also believed to have informed its flight attendants of the upcoming change. There has also been speculation that the move may influence flight crews to completely omit pre-depature beverages on narrowbody aircraft moving forward. JonNYC mentioned "input" from an unnamed source, which hints at the possibility. “The thinking is that this will probably lead to a decrease in offering predeparture beverage especially on narrowbodies,” the source reportedly said. It is unclear which airlines have informed their flight attendants of the order. On Saturday, JetBlue Airways had not yet notified its flight attendants, according to JonNYC. Many commenters on another Reddit thread recalled never receiving a pre-departure beverage on Alaska Airlines. However, one person who flew on a codeshare flight operated by American Airlines said that flight attendants "were going around with a tray of sparkling wine and sparkling water." 14 CFR §121.577 prohibits airlines from moving on the surface while any airline-furnished food, beverages, or tableware is still in a passenger seat. This includes all trays, service carts, and other aisle-blocking moving screens, which must be secured before the aircraft begins taxiing. During this time, passengers are expected to follow crew safety instructions and rules. This now restricts pre-departure beverage service time and enforces requirements for personal drinks held in your hand. https://simpleflying.com/faa-passengers-no-longer-be-able-sip-beverages-after-pushback/ American May Ditch Boeing for an Airbus Surprise American Airlines flies more aircraft than almost anyone on Earth, yet it has quietly backed itself into a corner over the ocean. Its long-haul order book has dwindled to just 19 jets. Now the airline is preparing to fix that — and the most interesting part of the story is not that it is buying widebodies, but that it might buy them from Airbus. That would be a genuine surprise. American is a Boeing house. It already operates 70 Dreamliners. The obvious move is to order more. But a persistent rumour out of the fleet-planning world suggests the carrier is seriously weighing the Airbus A330-900neo instead — a jet it once flew, retired in a hurry, and may now be circling back to. Informations clés • The squeeze: American has just 19 widebodies left on order — Delta has ~78, United ~135 • Current widebody fleet: 67 Boeing 777s and 70 Boeing 787s • The contenders: more Boeing 787s (incl. the larger 787-10) vs. the Airbus A330-900neo • Why the A330neo: cheaper, right-sized, and available sooner than a 787 (Delta’s latest 787-10s slip to 2031) • The irony: American dumped its A330 fleet early in the pandemic; those jets are now heading to Vietnam How American fell behind over the ocean Among the big three US carriers, American has the weakest long-haul network once you set aside Latin America. A string of fleet decisions made that worse: the early retirement of its Boeing 757s, 767s and — crucially — its Airbus A330s, many of which were still relatively young. The result is a widebody order book of just 19 more 787-9s, against Delta’s 78 and United’s eye-watering 135. Widebodies are ordered years in advance. Falling this far behind is not the kind of gap you close in a single season, which is exactly why a new order now looks inevitable. The spark for the latest round of speculation was the aviation insider JonNYC, who hinted that American’s next widebody could come from either planemaker — not the foregone Boeing conclusion most observers assumed. “If I were betting, I’d say there would be a definite focus on widebodies that are actually flying today — be that Boeing or Airbus.” Why the A330neo suddenly makes sense Logic says American should simply grow its 787 fleet, maybe adding the stretched 787-10 with its excellent per-seat economics. The catch is price and patience: the Dreamliner is expensive and the queue is long. When Delta ordered the 787-10 recently, first delivery was set for 2031 from the start — timed to the 767 phase-out. The A330neo flips those drawbacks. It is cheaper, a touch smaller — which suits American executives’ well-documented allergy to very large long-haul jets — and it can be delivered with far less lead time. American even has a pool of pilots who were once qualified on the A330. “I think the wild card would be an A330-900neo order, since that actually seems like a pretty good fit for American. The plane is more readily available, not terribly high capacity, and a bit cheaper than the alternatives.” A very expensive lesson There is a sting in the tail. American retired its entire ex-US Airways A330 fleet at the start of the pandemic, then chose not to bring the jets back when demand returned. Those aircraft are now being acquired by Vietnam’s Sun PhuQuoc Airways. If American does order the A330neo, it will be paying to re-introduce a type it already owned and walked away from. Nothing is signed yet. The smart money still splits between a fresh batch of 787s and a wild-card Airbus deal. But for an airline that prides itself on flying the youngest fleet of the big three, the most telling decision may be admitting that the plane it needs is the one it let go. https://migflug.com/afterburner/fr/american-airlines-widebody-order-a330neo-vs-787/ Turn Them Into Bean Tins, Says Emirates Ten Boeing 777-9s are sitting in Everett with nobody to fly them, and the man who ordered them has just suggested a use. Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, told The Telegraph at Farnborough on Monday that his airline will not be taking the first batch of ten aircraft. They have waited so long, and the design has changed so much around them, that bringing them up to current standard no longer makes sense. Quick Facts Who Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline What Emirates will refuse delivery of the first ten Boeing 777-9s built for it When Said at the Farnborough International Airshow on 20 July 2026, in an interview with The Telegraph The order Emirates has 270 777X on order — by a wide margin the largest order for the type The delay Entry into service has slipped from 2020 to 2027 at the earliest. Clark first walked aboard a fully configured aircraft in 2019 First operator Lufthansa, expected in 2027. The Telegraph reports before the end of that year; Lufthansa has pointed at the first quarter Already scrapped One 777-9 painted in Emirates livery in 2019 never flew at all and was disassembled in late summer 2025 “Heinz would be interested” Clark's words, given to The Telegraph's Christopher Jasper, were short and entirely unambiguous. “We’re not taking that batch and that’s it. As far as we’re concerned, what they do with them is up to them. Heinz would be interested – baked bean cans” Sir Tim Clark — President, Emirates Airline He also explained why, which is the more substantial part of the story: the aircraft have been modified so heavily since the early flights that the first ones off the line bear diminishing resemblance to what will eventually be certified. “The modifications for the airframe have been so significant since the early flights,” he said. “And don't forget we had a static-test failure as well.” That last point is worth pinning down, because it reads as fresh news and is not. Clark is reaching back to September 2019, when a 777X airframe undergoing ground stress testing at Everett failed at around 99 percent of ultimate load. The aluminium skin under the centre fuselage buckled and ruptured, the cabin explosively depressurised, and a passenger door departed the aircraft — which is why the incident was widely misreported at the time as a door failure. Because the airframe reached 99 percent of requirement, no retest was demanded. Seven years later, Clark is still counting it. One of them has already been scrapped The most striking detail did not come from Farnborough at all. Days before the show, The Air Current reported that Boeing had disassembled a 777-9 known as WH007 — the seventh built, rolled out of the Everett factory in the summer of 2019 already painted in Emirates colours, with the folding wingtips fitted. It never flew. Not once. It sat at Paine Field for six years while Boeing towed it around to make space for other unfinished 777-9s, and in late summer 2025 the company concluded the economics of reworking it did not add up and took it apart. There is a small, telling consequence. Search the free photo archives for a 777X in Emirates livery and you will not find one, because the only aircraft ever painted that way was scrapped before anybody photographed it in service. Boeing’s answer Stephanie Pope, who runs Boeing Commercial Airplanes, did not address the rejection directly. She defended the process that caused it. “If you look at those early airplanes, you’ve then got to weigh how much change it’s going to take and the benefit from that. We are always looking at how much that change is going to cost and what will be the capability of the airplane, and making sure we’re getting the right solution not only for Boeing, but for our customer” Stephanie Pope — President and Chief Executive Officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes She is not wrong on the engineering. Early production airframes on any programme accumulate differences from the certified configuration, and at some point retrofitting costs more than the aircraft is worth. That is a normal industrial judgement. It is just an unusually expensive one when the aircraft in question lists at several hundred million dollars and your largest customer is describing it in terms of food packaging. Nor is Emirates alone in waiting. Asked at the same show when British Airways would receive the first of its 24 on order, chairman and chief executive Sean Doyle answered: “Good question.” Boeing also has around 25 737 MAX 7s parked and unwanted by Southwest — which puts something in the order of 34 completed but homeless aircraft across two programmes. Meanwhile, the show reported a record The same opening day that produced Clark's baked bean line also produced a headline number: more than £36.2 billion, or about $48.8 billion, in announced commercial aircraft deals, with 234 firm aircraft orders — a 44 percent increase on day one of the previous show. Two caveats belong with that figure, and they happen to be the same caveats that make Clark's story worth telling. First, the source is not neutral. The number comes from ADS, the UK aerospace trade association, which owns Farnborough International, the company that runs the airshow. It is the organisers' own count. “Today’s orderbook is a clear signal that confidence in the global aerospace industry remains high, with airlines continuing to invest in the aircraft and technologies that will shape the future of flight” Kevin Craven — Chief Executive of ADS and Chair of Farnborough International Second, and more importantly, it is calculated at list prices — and nobody pays list prices. Widebody discounts of 40 to 50 percent are routine. Emirates' own November 2025 order for 65 more 777-9s was announced at $38 billion, which works out at $585 million per aircraft on paper; reporting on comparable campaigns points to real prices closer to a third of that. So the $48.8 billion is a headline, not a bank transfer. Which is the quiet joke running underneath the whole week: an industry that measures its confidence in billions of dollars nobody actually pays, at a show where the largest customer for the newest widebody just told its manufacturer to sell the first ten for scrap. https://migflug.com/afterburner/emirates-refuses-ten-boeing-777x-farnborough-2026/ CALENDAR OF EVENTS . ALPA's 70th Air Safety Forum -September 14-17, 2026; Washington, DC . ICAO/EASA Third Global RSOO/RAIO Forum for Aviation Safety — September 29–30, 2026, in Georgetown, Guyana., https://www.icao.int/events : NATA Ground Handling Safety Symposium - September 15-16, 2026 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX www.nata.aero/ghss : Aircraft Cabin Air International Conference - 22-23 September 2026 . ISASI - BOSTON 2026 - September 28, 2026 – October 2, 2026 . Global Aviation Conference Frankfurt- 29-30SEP2026 - Frankfurt, Germany . Defence Aviation Safety Conference 2026 — October 5–6, 2026, United Kingdom. . European Aviation Training Summit 3 – 5 November 2026 • Estoril Congress Centre, Cascais, Portugal . 79TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY SUMMIT MONTREAL | NOVEMBER 10-12, 2026. . Airlines 2026 conference - November 11, 2026 (London) . 2026 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) Oct. 20-22, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV . Bombardier Safety Standdown (November 10–12, 2026 in Wichita, KS) . 2027 ACSF Safety Symposium - April 6-8, 2027 - ERAU Daytona Beach, FL Curt Lewis