On the 1st of July, an Airbus A380 belonging to the Emirates airline company managed to fly for 14 hours with a large hole in its aerodynamic fairing.
The plane was flying from Dubai to Brisbane and the incident occurred after one of the tires burst, soon after take-off. Fortunately, nobody was injured and the flight reached its destination without any other difficulties.
Euronews interviewed Dr. Johannes Boroh, a retired commercial pilot, now a senior lecturer in aviation studies at the Kingston University in London, who said that the case is very unusual. He declared for the publication that
It’s a one in a million case probably. It’s something that we don’t see every day.
One of the passengers who were on the plane reported that the incident happened approximately 45 minutes after the plane took off when a loud bang could be heard. The passenger stated the vibration from the explosion of the tire could be felt through the floor of the aircraft.
But how could the aircraft continue its journey safely?
According to Dr. Boroh, because the hole did not affect the fuselage or the structure of the aircraft, the flight could continue safely, without putting the passengers in any danger.
He went on to explain that, after the explosion, there were no sensors activated in the system of the plane. At the same time, the cabin crew performed a visual inspection of the aircraft to assess its integrity, but since the hole was under the plane, it couldn’t be spotted. Therefore, without any alert or visual confirmation of danger, the pilots made the decision to continue the flight and not return.
Boroh also stated that, apart from the flight being noisier than usual, there was no risk involved and that the passengers were completely safe during the trip.
The airline company to which the plane belonged, Emirates, declared that
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.