German investigators link misplaced pin to Boeing 787 incident

BERLIN, July 9 (Reuters) - German aviation accident investigators said on Thursday that a misplaced locking pin was involved in the nose gear collapse of a Boeing 787 at a gate at Frankfurt airport last month.

• A locking pin had not been inserted in the nose gear before the collapse that left several staff members injured.

• The device was instead found in a storage box in the aircraft's forward hold, said the BFU federal aviation accident investigation bureau in an interim report.

• The Lufthansa Boeing B787-9 jetliner was being prepared for a long-haul flight to Los Angeles at a terminal parking stand on June 4 when its nose gear collapsed.

• According to the report, there were 28 people inside the aircraft, including technicians, crew members and ground staff, when the nose landing gear unexpectedly retracted.

• Six other individuals outside were directly involved.

• The investigation is not yet complete, and an analysis, including a determination of the causes, will only be provided in the final report, expected in about a year.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)