Passengers traveling on an Emirates flight to Brisbane, Australia, were surprised when they noticed a huge hole in the side of the aircraft as they disembarked.
Those aboard the Airbus A380 from Dubai to the Australian city learned of the damage as they exited the plane after the roughly 14-hour flight on July 1.
Images of the aircraft shared on social media reveal the extent of the puncture, caused by a punctured tire due to a “technical failure” during the trip, according to the airline.
One of the passengers on board took to Twitter to describe the “terrifying” incident, which took place “during the flight”.
“It was absolutely terrifying at first and the crew knew something serious could have happened – they immediately contacted the cabin,” wrote Andrew Morris, an English professor at Loughborough University in the UK.
“Shortly after, they were back to normal. The calm demeanor (of the staff) was reassuring, they knew it was not catastrophic.”
While it’s unclear exactly how long the plane was in the air when the problem occurred, some reports suggest it may have been around 45 minutes into the flight.
Commercial aviation website Aviation Herald reports that the crew advised air traffic controllers at Brisbane Airport of the situation in advance and requested that the panel be attended to by emergency services upon landing.
Emirates later released a statement emphasizing that the rupture did not affect “the fuselage or structure of the aircraft”.
“Our flight EK430 flying from Dubai to Brisbane on July 1st experienced a technical failure,” the statement reads.
“One of the aircraft’s 22 tires ruptured while cruising, causing damage to a small portion of the aerodynamic fairing, which is an outer panel or the skin of the aircraft.”
The airline confirmed that the aircraft landed safely in Australia and passengers disembarked as scheduled. Damage to the exterior of the wide-body plane has now been repaired.
“The fairing has been completely replaced, checked and cleared by engineers, Airbus and all relevant authorities,” adds Emirates.
“The safety of our passengers and crew has always been our top priority.”
The incident came just days after the A380 superjumbo, in decline before the pandemic, received something of a reprieve, as German airline Lufthansa announced plans to redeploy the plane from summer 2023.
The Airbus A380 has been on its way out since Airbus announced in 2019 that it was ending production of the plane.
THE CNN contacted Emirates for further comments.
Source: CNN Brasil
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