Merged: EK 'Emergency' Perth??

[Little_Red_Hat]

Friend just rang, apparently EK made an emergency landing into PER just now with 'smoke in the cabin'. Anyone know anything??

Hoping it's typical media exaggeration and was just precautionary due to fumes, but seems Perth is on the map lately!! They said the report quoted 'technical problems'. Not sure whether it was the EK flight going to Perth, or another one. Have a few friends flying the Perth route so hoping it's not too serious!!!

(Not trying to be funny here but maybe now the QF bashers will see, these things DO happen)

[Skystar320]

A340 [Emirates?] reported smoke in the cabin...

A/c landed safely

7 Suburban Fire Stations mobilized in response to the call

Paramedics put on stanby

[Little_Red_Hat]

Thanks. Sounds like all handled ok then. Got in touch with friend, she is not flying today like I thought.

Just waiting for the 'we was gunna die' quotes on the news tonight- we all know they will find one to say it...

Edit: PerthNow have got a write-up (of course they found a way to tie this to QF72)

Airbus makes emergency landing

By Nicole Cox
October 16, 2008 12:34pm

Article from: http://www.news.com.au/images/sources/h14_thesundaytimes.gif (http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/)
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PERTH Airport was on high alert this morning when an Emirates plane made an emergency landing after reporting smoke in the cabin.

The flight left Perth International Airport bound for Dubai at 6am (WST) but was forced to turn back after the pilot reported smoke in the cabin.
The Airbus A340 was met by emergency personnel after it made a textbook emergency landing about 8.40am.
All the passengers were apparently evacuated safely.

It has a similar cockpit set-up to the Qantas Airbus A330-300 involved in a mid-air emergency over Exmouth last week, plunging several hundred feet in a few seconds and injuring more than 70 people.

Airport corporate affairs manager Malcolm Bradshaw said this morning's response was a "standard procedure''.

"I need to emphasise that we get a number of these every week,'' Mr Bradshaw told PerthNow (http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24505324-948,00.html).

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'Evacuated'??? Wonder if they really did, or if it was a disembarkation. Wish the media would learn the difference!

[HEALY]

Yep, it must have been the similar cockpit setup that did it. It has concerned me for many years that acft with similar cockpit setups are an accident waiting to happen.

Muppets!:ugh:

[Little_Red_Hat]

My thought exactly, what the eff does that have to do with anything??? Maybe the similar cockpit setup meant that they got confused between the A330and knocked the thronomister control out of whack :E

[Pedota]

'Burning smell' forces Emirates flight to turn back
Fairfax


A "burning smell" forced the emergency landing of an Emirates flight with 120 passengers on board at Perth International Airport today.

The crew of the Dubai-bound Airbus A340 called an in-flight emergency to air traffic control about 7.50am. The plane landed safely at the airport about 8.45am.

An Emirates spokeswoman said a "burning smell" was detected on the plane.

Prominent businessman Michael Chaney, the chairman of Woodside Petroleum and NAB, who was the first passenger to pass through customs after disembarking the flight, said smoke had been seen inside the cabin.

"There was a bit of smoke in the cabin and we turned around and came back," Mr Chaney said.

But Emirates denied the presence of any smoke, and this claim was backed up by passenger David Cairns, who was also on the flight.

Mr Cairns was sitting in business class of Flight EK425 with his wife when passengers and staff at the rear of the plane noticed an unusual odour.

"They were worried that it might be the initiation of a fire or some electrical problem," Mr Cairns said.

"They checked it out and then the captain came on the microphone and said there were no longer odours and we were going to carry on.

"Then about 40 minutes later the captain came back on and said they had smelt the odours again and had decided in the interests of safety to come back to Perth and check the plane out."

Mr Cairns said while some passengers were worried, there was no panic. He said at no time was there any smoke or fire on board.

"I was sitting up the front in business class and there were no issues up there. The problem was at the rear of the plane," he said.

Passengers had quickly disembarked through the front exit, leaving hand luggage on board once the plane had landed.

They could see emergency fire trucks at the scene, and were waiting at the airport as engineers checked the plane over.

"They had the emergency services out here just in case there was a fire," Mr Cairns said.

After the stress of the incident, Mr Cairns hoped he and his wife could continue their journey to the Maldives and finally begin their relaxing holiday.

"The pilot did the right thing," Mr Cairns said.

"I would hate for something to have happened in the middle of the Indian Ocean."

Two nuns from the Presentation Sisters Order in Lesmurdie who were on the flight were travelling to The Vatican to meet with The Pope.

"We will come back tonight at 10.30pm to get the next plane. We are certain that he (The Pope) will be waiting for us," Sister Benedict said.

The passengers on Flight EK425 disembarked about 9am. The flight had left Perth for Dubai at 6.01am.

Emergency services workers and several police officers then boarded the plane. It has been parked away from the main terminal while it is being examined by engineers, who are investigating the cause of the smell.

Passengers will collect their baggage and either be sent home or to a hotel while a rescheduled flight is arranged.

The Emirates spokeswoman said they would be rescheduled on another Emirates flight later today.

"Safety was not compromised at any point," she said.

[peuce]

As it seems to cover every situation known to man, I want this on my headstone ....

"Safety was not compromised at any point,"

[Capn Bloggs]

121 pax? Pretty shabby load factor! :E:{

[Fris B. Fairing]

similar cockpit setup

One seat on the left and one seat on the right?

Definite pattern emerging. Ground 'em all I say.

[Long Bay Mauler]

I wonder if Malaysian will get a mention as their A330 lost its hydraulics on Sunday night.

Not sure if that too was an emergency landing,but maybe there is something about Perth and WA?

QF,EK and MH all getting sucked into the Bermuda Triangle of the West.

3 incidents in 3 weeks is not good for all these airlines operating in Perth.

Also heard Stevie Wonder couldnt fly out of PER last night due to another broken QF jet.

[Little_Red_Hat]

Yes, I thought 121 is a bit low for an a340... is it always like this just after school holidays?

[Toolman101]

121 pax ? Must be the global downturn in the share markets.
I wish there had only been that many onboard when I caught the flight in May. Jammed in like sardines ,not a seat to spare anywhere. :{

[Mahatma Kote]

I did hear via various sources that a 'hot-spot' was detected in the luggage hold during the immediate post-landing checks.

Whether that was the cause of the incident remains to be seen.

[peuce]

And another thing ...

About this "Safety was not compromised at any point" stuff ...

How come the Company can, not just speculate, but make a definitvie statement about an incident before any investigations are carried out or completed?:=

I would be banned from PPRUNE for 20 years if I made such a statement.:{

Can't the Moderators do something about this ?:E

[AAA578]

Emirates A340-500

A6-ERB


http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/5686/rimg0002qi0.th.jpg (http://img184.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rimg0002qi0.jpg)http://img184.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7200/rimg0001tq4.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rimg0001tq4.jpg)http://img65.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

[Toolman101]

The engineers inspection reveiled nothing. :ok:
No trace of any fire or smoke. The only thing they noted was the smell of 'burnt plastic' but no obvious cause.