Super jumbo makes emergency landing

The aircraft EK385, with 481 people on board, including passengers and crew, touched down at 0345  hours at RGIA. A full contingent of fire tenders, ambulances and support staff was on standby to provide emergency assistance. The aircraft, which was flying over central India, was diverted and permitted to land in RGIA.

The aircraft initially approached the Chennai airport but did not get clearance for landing as the runway was busy. The pilot then contacted Air Traffic Control at Shamshabad, 20 kms from here and got the clearance to land.

“All the passengers, mostly foreign nationals, were got off from the aircraft immediately,”  RGIA spokesperson said, adding that the reasons for the emergency landing are also being looked into. Responding to the emergency landing, the Airport Rescue Fire Fighters  upgraded themselves from CAT-9 to CAT-10 category to ensure safe landing of the aircraft.

“In order to handle Jumbos, the airport needs to be a CAT- 9 and the number of vehicles in service required for CAT 8, 9 and 10 is identical — three. The difference is that depending on the category, more extinguishing agent is required,” the spokesperson said.

For CAT-10, the airport would need to own three vehicles with an 11,000 litre capacity, plus an adequate volume of performance level B foam.

The aircraft was then towed to the parking bay and passengers have been sent to Dubai on another aircraft. While 80 passengers boarded a Hyderabad – Dubai Emirates flight (EK527), another special flight was operated by Emirates later in the day.

A few more were supposed to take different flights on Sunday evening to their destination.

This is the second time that A380 has landed at Hyderabad. During the civil aviation exhibition in October 2008, the aircraft had landed at Begumpet Airport.

The aircraft, with a seating capacity of 525, came from the company’s headquarters in Toulouse, France.  In June 2011, a Sydney- Dubai commercial aircraft (EK-413) landed here because of a medical emergency. It then landed at the RGIA marking the first landing of the super-jumbo at India’s first Code F compliant airport - equipped to receive larger aircrafts.