The puncture was caused by one of the 22 tires on the Emirates plane exploding. According to the passenger report, a loud noise was heard 45 minutes into the flight.
Passengers of an Airbus A380 from Dubai, in the Emirates, bound for Brisbane, Australia, were surprised when they realized, upon landing, that the plane had a hole in its side. It happened last Friday.
Emirates Airbus A380 (A6-EVK) departed 30L Highway in Dubai (OMDB), VAE on board # EK430 To Brisbane, Qld, Australia where I landed safely. After landing, a large hole was seen in the left fuselage, coming from a separate bolt in the nose.https://t.co/o1EqBuJ0bA pic.twitter.com/s4p6tIpXDw
– JACDEC (@JacdecNew) 2 July 2022
Although both passengers and crew realized shortly after takeoff that something had happened, the problem was not serious and the approximately 14-hour flight was completed as scheduled.
It was “a chance in a million,” Johannes Borough, a former pilot and professor of aviation studies at Kingston University in London, said in an interview with Euronews.
“It’s not something we see every day.”he added.
Emirates later clarified that the hole was caused by one of its 22 tires exploding. According to passenger reports, a loud sound was heard 45 minutes into the flight, CNN Brazil news.
One passenger, Andrew Morris, wrote on Twitter, “At first it was so terrifying and the crew knew something serious could happen – they immediately called into the cabin.” “A little later, they are back to normal. The calm demeanor (of the team) was reassuring, they knew it wasn’t disastrous.”
He was also on this trip. It was very terrifying at first and the cabin crew knew something serious might have happened – they were in direct contact with the cockpit. Soon, they resumed business as usual. Their calm demeanor was reassuring – they knew it wasn’t disastrous.
– Andrew Morris (@AndrewMorris203) 3 July 2022
Airbus pilots contacted air traffic control as they approached the airport, suspecting that a tire had blown during takeoff and requested that emergency equipment be provided on-site.
The airline said in its statement that this was a “technical malfunction”, but it did not affect the “fuselage or structure of the aircraft,” justifying the continuation of the flight to its destination.
They explained that “one of the aircraft’s 22 tires ruptured during the flight, causing damage to a small part of the aerodynamics, which is the outer panel or the skin of the aircraft.”
The company added that the damages have now been fixed, “the interface has been replaced, checked and approved by engineers, Airbus and all related parties”.
“The safety of our passengers and crew has always been our top priority,” says Emirates Airlines.
