S V Choong 4 Report post Posted March 24, 2009 (edited) Emirates jet makes emergency landing: officials March 21, 2009 An Emirates flight with 225 passengers on board made an emergency landing in the Australian city of Melbourne after the Airbus A340's tail struck the tarmac during take-off, officials said Saturday. Flight EK407, headed for Dubai, circled the airport for more than 30 minutes to dump fuel before landing safely and without any injuries to passengers late Friday. "It was what's known in the industry as a tail hit at take-off. It took off very steeply, the tail touched the end of the runway, and it (the plane) went up, stabilised and came back," said a spokesman for Melbourne airport. Passengers described their fear as the plane had to circle to lighten its load of fuel before returning to land. "It was terrifying, it really was scary. I'd hate to go through it again," Catherine Edmunds told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "We were floating round there for about 45 minutes dumping fuel and it was very quiet on board, a bit scary," said another passenger, Andrea Law. Emirates said in a statement it would conduct an investigation into the incident. "Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused to the passengers. The safety of our passengers and crew is top priority," the statement said. Passengers and crew were provided with hotel accommodation and alternative travel arrangements on the next available flights. Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Ian Brokenshire said several factors could cause a "tail hit" including weather conditions, loading issues and handling. "It is a hazard, particularly on the longer aircraft," he said. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-wo...90321-9529.html Plane evacuated after false bomb alarm March 23, 2009 An Emirates Airline plane that had landed at London's Gatwick airport from Dubai was evacuated on Sunday due to a false bomb alarm, a police spokeswoman said. All the craft's 164 passengers and 18 crew members were removed from the plane after a note was found indicating a "suspicious device" on board, spokeswoman Carrie Aldous told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Further flights were delayed because of the security precautions taken with the Emirates flight. Security personnel searched the aircraft, and all 182 persons aboard the flight were questioned by police. A 24-year-old British man from county Essex was arrested, police said. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-wo...90323-95x8.html Edited March 24, 2009 by S V Choong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Louis L. 2 Report post Posted March 24, 2009 what is happening this week? there are numerous cases related to aviation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MIR 2 Report post Posted March 24, 2009 Pictures of the damaged Emirates Airbus A340-500, tailstrike at Melbourne - http://aaeg.org.au/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Ouch.... part of the skin fell off.... Thanks for the link MIR. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted April 12, 2009 Emirates jet close to major 'aviation disaster' April 12, 2009 - 7:35PM An Emirates plane came just centimetres from crashing at Melbourne Airport, authorities have revealed. The fully-laden jet carrying 225 passengers and bound for Dubai last month had to use the entire 3,600-metre-long runway 16 but failed to become airborne until the last moment, News Limited newspapers say. The pilots managed to pull the nose up sharply but smashed the jet's tail into the ground and also took out airport strobe lights 170 metres from the end of the runway. The plane then took out navigation antennae before barely clearing the airport's boundary fence half a kilometre away. "It was as close as we have ever come to a major aviation catastrophe in Australia," an aviation official told News Limited. AAP http://www.theage.com.au/national/emirates...90412-a3oo.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2 Report post Posted April 12, 2009 http://www.theage.com.au/national/emirates...90412-a3oo.html Why didn't they just canceled takeoff? This is a very serious incident... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Isaac 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2009 Why didn't they just canceled takeoff? This is a very serious incident... It probably was too late to abort the take off then. Besides, i never heard of any plane that involved in a tailstrike can abort takeoff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaybin 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2009 Why doesn't the plane gets lift off in the first place? If the speed have not reach V1 during the halfway down the runway, pilot should be able to abort. But if the speed already reaches V1, then why isn't it getting any lift off? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Walter Sim 1 Report post Posted April 12, 2009 Wrong calculation maybe. Plane is assumed to be lighter. The same thing happened to the mh777 years ago in zurich Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ja Singh 2 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 100t off weight, Instead of punching 3, the co pilot punched 2 as the first number into the computer, leading to V1 V2 t/off speed error. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 That A345 is probably going to be written off due to extensive damage. I think they are waiting for insurance company verdict. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Imran K. 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 What write off...mad ah? <_> Repairs underway... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted April 24, 2009 That A345 is probably going to be written off due to extensive damage. I think they are waiting for insurance company verdict. Accord ADTB, EK had decided to seal the fate of A345 in question, A6-ERE, by writing her off.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Walter Sim 1 Report post Posted April 24, 2009 Any news on what happened to the pilots involved. Did they get sacked or something like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted April 24, 2009 Any news on what happened to the pilots involved. Did they get sacked or something like that. I remember it was on "The Age" (local Melburnian newspapaer) a few weeks ago, pilots who handled A6-ERE during the tailstrike incident were indeed sacked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandeep G 1 Report post Posted April 24, 2009 I remember it was on "The Age" (local Melburnian newspapaer) a few weeks ago, pilots who handled A6-ERE during the tailstrike incident were indeed sacked. They weren't sacked - they were whisked off back to DXB quicker than CASA could blink their eyes and open an investigation and were told to resign or be sacked.. they resigned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted April 25, 2009 Thanks for the clarification, Sandeep. The aircraft involved in the tailstrike incident was A6-ERG. Not A6-ERE as mentioned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Georg Burdicek 1 Report post Posted April 30, 2009 According to the preliminary report of the ATSB, the tailstrike was caused by the crew entering Landing Weight as TakeOff Weight into the FMS system. Therefore Flex Takeoff-Thrust was calculated too low, as the weight anticipated was 100t less then the actual weight. Full report can be found here: http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/invest...9012_Prelim.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
