Aircraft Required A 'Nose Job' After Being Caught In A Storm

An American Airlines Dreamliner that was damaged by a hail storm July 27th in China will be placed back in service in the next week or so, according to the airline.

The most visible damage was to the radome of the airplane, which was replaced with a temporary radome American flew to Beijing. But there was also some slight damage to the underside of one of the airplane's wings, which was repaired with speed tape for a ferry flight to Tokyo, according to the Dallas Morning News' aviation blog. There, side windshields that had been damaged were repaired. Kevin Mosblech, 787 line maintenance manager for American, said only the outer panes were cracked, and the integrity of the windshields was maintained throughout the flight.

Following that repair the plane was ferried back to Dallas/Fort Worth, where additional inspections were done.

In all, American said, the plane suffered damage to the leading edges of the wings and horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The damage to the tailplanes likely happened when ice ingested into the engines blew out through a "snow cone" as intended. Thick chunks of ice that were shed when the radome collapsed likely caused the damage to the side windshields, Mosblech said. The front windshields were not damaged, he said.

In all, American mechanics have removed 44 panels from the aircraft and shipped them to the airline's composite shop in Tulsa. Some have already been repaired and reinstalled. Repairs to the wings and stabilizers are also still being completed.

American said the damaged airplane is expected to return to service in another week or so.

(Images posted to Twitter by American Airlines)

FMI: www.aa.com