A380 flies 14 hours with hole in side

[reader]

From CNN

Passengers traveling on an Emirates flight to Brisbane, Australia were stunned when they noticed a huge hole in the side of the aircraft while they were disembarking.

Those on board the Airbus A380 from Dubai to the Australian city became aware of the damage as they exited the plane following the roughly 14-hour flight on July 1.

Images of the aircraft shared on social media reveal the extent of the puncture, which was due to a ruptured tire caused by a “technical fault” during the journey, according to the airline.

One of the passengers on board has since taken to Twitter to describe the “terrifying” incident, which took place “during cruise.” 

“Was absolutely terrifying at first and the cabin crew knew something serious may have happened - were immediately in contact with the cockpit,” wrote Andrew Morris, an English professor at the UK’s Loughborough University.

Shortly after, they resumed as normal. Their calm demeanor was reassuring – they knew it was not catastrophic.”

While it’s unclear exactly how long the plane had been in the air for when the issue occurred, some reports suggest that it may have been around 45 minutes into the flight.

Emirates later released a statement stressing that the rupture did not impact “the fuselage, frame or structure of the aircraft.”

“Our flight EK430 flying from Dubai to Brisbane on July 1 experienced a technical fault,” reads the statement. 

“One of the aircraft’s 22 tires ruptured during cruise, causing damage to a small portion of the aerodynamic fairing, which is an outer panel or the skin of the aircraft.”

 

 

 

[unicorn]

[PeterRS]

Fortunately this did not have the result of the tyre blowout on the ill-fated Air France Concorde.

From the position of that gaping hole, it is clear the tyre issue was not on take-off for I cannot see how rubber could have been blown around the side of that large aircraft and then created an inward puncture. And since both Emirates and a passenger stated the incident occurred during the cruise level, something must have happened in the wheel well. Odd, though, how that had enough force to puncture the outer skin but not tear a hole in the lower deck. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

From the position of that gaping hole

this definitely needs its own thread 

[reader]

From the point of view of an aviation buff, the incident provides the grist for much discussion. It appears to me the it was an outward rupture of the side of landing gear housing.

Here’s a link to Aviation Herald aericle:

https://avherald.com/h?article=4fb1cbea&opt=0