Israeli investigators have blamed overhaul work performed in Singapore for the May 23 “severe structural failure” of the main landing gear on a Boeing 777 operated by El Al, en route to NY.

A June 20 statement from Israeli accident investigators said they were focusing on the MRO work as the likely cause of the incident.

The latest report, produced by Yitzhak Raz, the Israeli ministry of transport’s chief accident investigator, said that laboratory tests prove that the failure followed surface grinding of components in the MRO centre.

The aircraft, with 279 passengers, departed Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport for Newark, New Jersey, on 23 May but turned back after the left main gear failed to retract.

The aircraft’s crew dumped fuel over the Mediterranean and an Israeli Defense Force Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter conducted an air-to-air inspection of the landing gear before the airliner eventually landed safely.

(Source: Flight Global)