EK413 5 January
Ex A380-800 driver,
I am not a pilot, but I thought this thread might be interested in the stated reasons for a recent post 2300 departure by EK from Sydney. We were passengers on EK413 (A380-800) on 5 January 2012 scheduled 2145 departure. The night was mild and there was some rain. We were held at various points before and during taxi by air traffic control. Then according to my memory of cabin PA from Captain, we had to wait for the brakes to cool down because the brake temperatures were too high from excessive taxiing at low speeds with a fully loaded aircraft. I assume the brakes were too hot to allow safe takeoff (presumably because they would be less effective in case of emergency stop.) I certainly would not want to be taking off if the brakes wouldn't have functioned effectively if required.
After waiting about another 20-30 minutes, we eventually took off at around 2315. As passengers, we were certainly saved a lot of grief by not having to 'deplane'. But I was surprised that taxiing an A380 in this situation could overheat the brakes. Does this happen often with A380s? Can it be avoided? How would this go as a justification for possibly breaching curfew?