An Emirates A380 landed in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday, with a big fat hole in its wing root fairing. It remains unclear what portion of the journey the hole was there for. A video now circulating on Twitter is giving people a fairly close look at the hole. Check it out below.
An Emirates A380 landed in Brisbane over the weekend with a gaping hole in its wing route fairing (a fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag). There was reportedly a loud bang about 30-45 minutes into the flight. The flight left from Dubai, and Brisbane was always its intended destination.
The A380 kept flying after the alleged bang. Upon arrival to Brisbane, the crew told air traffic control (ATC) they suspected they had a blown tire and asked for emergency services to be on standby. The A380 then landed in Brisbane at 11:44pm. The flight took 13.5 hours. Some reports say the hole may have been caused by a detatched bolt in the nose gear (though this has not been confirmed).
Emirates Airbus A380-800, registration A6-EVK performing flight EK-430 from #Dubai to #Brisbane #michelin Tyre’s doing their best here pic.twitter.com/AYvdqy94ZO
— Aviation2500 (@aviation_2500) July 3, 2022
Emirates has released the following statement in response to the incident: “Our flight EK430 flying from Dubai to Brisbane on 1 July experienced a technical fault. One of the aircraft’s 22 tyres ruptured during cruise, causing damage to a small portion of the aerodynamic fairing, which is an outer panel or the skin of the aircraft.”
“At no point did it have any impact on the fuselage, frame or structure of the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely in Brisbane and all passengers disembarked as scheduled. The fairing has been completely replaced, checked and cleared by engineers, Airbus and all relevant authorities. The safety of our passengers and crew has always been our top priority.”
Emirates
Emirates Airbus A380 (A6-EVK) departed rwy 30L at Dubai (OMDB), VAE on flight #EK430 to Brisbane, Qld, Australia where it landed safely. After landing, a large hole was seen in the left fuselage, allegedly coming from a detached bolt in the nosegear.https://t.co/o1EqBuJ0bA pic.twitter.com/s4p6tIpXDw
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) July 2, 2022
As for the aircraft in question, Simple Flying reports that the jet was just over three years old, and had been “spotted in Melbourne, Washington DC, Toronto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in recent weeks.”
Twitter user Pontius Pilate has posted a video giving their followers a closer look at the hole. The video was cheekily captioned: “Anyone know the drag fuel factor penalty for this one?”
Anyone know the drag fuel factor penalty for this one? 😳😂 #emirates #a380 pic.twitter.com/uPzsH9KVAk
— Pontius Pilate (@pontius_is_goat) July 2, 2022
There you have it. A closer look at the hole – and yet another reason to grip your armrest and grimace the next time you take off…
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