BAe 146 TNT Airways
In the
spring of 2010 AELS provided a total end-of-life solution for a BAe 146-200QT
of TNT Airways. The solution included component management, disassembly and
dismantling.
The disassembly took place in hangar 8 of Brussels Airport, Belgium. In the hangar a restricted area was created to guarantee a separation between the disassembly process and the rest of the facility where regular maintenance on other aircrafts was carried out.
After an
initial function test of the aircraft disassembly started. At first a long list
of components were removed to support the still operational fleet of BAe 146
aircraft of TNT. All parts that were not of interest of TNT were marketed by
AELS to other BAe 146 operators, BAe 146 maintenance providers and component
brokers. The sale of these components reduced the total
project cost for TNT Airways.
The
disassembly was executed in partnership with Chevron Aircraft Maintenance; a UK based EASA Part 145 maintenance organization certified for base and line
maintenance for the BAe 146. For this project Chevron established a temporary
EASA line station in Hangar 8.
What made
this project unique was the fact that the components were given an EASA form 1
after removal. As a result the components are ready to be installed on other
aircraft directly. This was a big cost reduction for TNT. Normally each
component requires a visit to a repair shop for overhaul or testing.
All
components that were removed and had no technical problems were temporary
stored and an individual history check was performed. If all the necessary
historic information could be retrieved, an EASA form 1 was issued. After that
the components were carefully packed and shipped to TNT Airways' base in Liege.
Some components required special cradles, for example the control surfaces and
the main cargo door. These cradles were built on site by AELS.
Once all requested
components were removed from the aircraft, the aircraft was pulled back out of
the hangar. On the platform in front of hangar 8 the landing gear was removed
and the remaining airframe was lifted of its jacks and placed on the ground.
Next, the cockpit was accurately removed. All control cables were disconnected and electrical wiring individually cut. After the cockpit was separated it was lifted on a flat bed truck and transported to Maastricht in the Netherlands for use in a new educational centre.
The rest of the airframe was cut into smaller pieces, transported to a metal recycling facility shredded, sorted and finally recycled.
Click pictures to enlarge
