From another forum I follow:
Heard about this a few days ago. they were about to join the localiser when they implemented a missed approach just under 1000ft ALT (i.e. above mean sea level, how "height" is measured in the majority of the world), the elevation (height above sea leavel) of Moscow DME is approx 550ft, i.e. they were <500ft (approx 165m) above the airfield, hills/buildings could easily make up the difference at 8nm out from the threshold.
Apparently both pilots were immediately grounded and not even permitted to operate back to DXB and are presumed to be fired shortly. They operated another failed approach, my source thinks they only then understood the problem, before a third successful approach.
The problem: Russia uses the metric system in aviation. While I, and most of the "rational" world are proponent of the metric system, the aviation world has always used nautical miles, knots and feet. I also think that this should stay this way and be the standard method used. Unfortunately two major aviation regions, Russia and China, choose to differ.
The problem with Russia, since an Airbus has a button to switch altitude to meters, is that ATC don't provide instructions with altitude in meters (again, altitude = height above SEA LEVEL - also known as QNH), ATC in Russia provide instructions in QFE - meters above AERODROME.
Part of the standard approach procedure at DME, when provided joining instructions to the localizer (a radio beam from the runway that indicates the extended centreline and is used by the aircraft in lateral navigation to line up with the runway) is to descend to 600 meters (!!!)
Now unfortunately the A380 doesn't have an automated system in place to implement this instruction, so pilots have conversion tables where they must look this up. Given the descent pattern of the subject aircraft it is plausible that the pilots simply input 600ft into their aircraft, when the correct reading would be 550ft+600m = approx 765m = approx 2200ft.
From what I've been told they only realised the issue and implement the missed approach when they received an alert from the GPWS (ground proximity warning system). The scary part: The radar altimeter which provides the height (height = distance to ground) callouts during final approach (1000 above, 500 above, 100 above etc) beings way above what they were at, so they would've heard 2 or 3 height callouts already, and their assigned altitude (if 600m QFE) would've been above even the first such callout.
Very scary stuff indeed, a 500 person A380 buried in the Moscow suburbs.