How close was Emirates Airlines Flight EK407 to a massive disaster? Very close, according to a report to be released by investigators.
257 Passengers and 18 crew were on board the jet on March 20, 2009 when the plane only just cleared the fence at end of the runway at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.
The plane scraped its undercarriage, knocked out landing lights on the runway and was forced to make an emergency landing having circled for 20 mins to dump fuel.
UPDATE: Report Released confirms that wrong weight was inputted resulting in reduced take off thrust and speed. Human Error.
ATSB Report Abstract:
At 2231 Eastern Daylight-saving Time, an Airbus A340-500 aircraft, registered A6-ERG, commenced the take-off roll on runway 16 at Melbourne Airport on a scheduled, passenger flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates with 257 passengers, 14 cabin crew and four flight crew. The takeoff was planned as a reduced-power takeoff and the first officer was the handling pilot for the departure.
At 2231:53, the captain called for the first officer to rotate. The first officer attempted to rotate the aircraft, but it did not respond immediately with a nose-up pitch. The captain again called 'rotate' and the first officer applied a greater nose-up command. The nose of the aircraft was raised and the tail made contact with the runway surface, but the aircraft did not begin to climb. The captain then selected TOGA on the thrust levers, the engines responded immediately, and the aircraft commenced a climb.
The crew notified air traffic control of the tail strike and that they would be returning to Melbourne. While reviewing the aircraft's performance documentation in preparation for landing, the crew noticed that a take-off weight, which was 100 tonnes below the actual take-off weight of the aircraft, had inadvertently been used when completing the take-off performance calculation. The result of that incorrect take-off weight was to produce a thrust setting and take-off reference speeds that were lower than those required for the actual aircraft weight.
The aircraft subsequently landed at Melbourne with no reported injuries. The tail strike resulted in substantial damage to the tail of the aircraft and damaged some airport lighting and the instrument
landing system.
As a result of the accident, the aircraft operator has advised the Australian Transport Safety Bureau that it is reviewing a number of procedures including human factors involved in take-off performance data entry.
The investigation is continuing.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report will indicate that the airline was just metres away from major catastrophe. The investigation has focused on excess weight being carried by the plane and possible pilot fatigue.
It is believed that the take off load inputted to the Emirates Plane computer could have been as much as 100 tonnes less than the actual weight.
The ATSB report is said to be significant and will include graphic footage taken by security cameras at Melbourne Airport. Now there is a video i cant wait to see.
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