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An Emirates flight has made an emergency landing in Melbourne after the Airbus A340′s tail struck the tarmac on take-off. Flight EK407, flying for Dubai with 225 passengers on board, had to dump fuel and there were reports of smoke filling the cabin before the plane made an emergency landing about 30 minutes after the 10.30pm (AEDT) take-off on Friday night.
A Melbourne Airport spokesman said no passengers were injured. "It was what’s known in the industry as a tail hit at take-off. It took off very steeply, the tail touched the end of the runway, and it (the plane) went up, stabilised and came back," he said.
The plane landed without incident and Emirates would conduct an investigation into the incident, a statement by the airline said. "A high level Emirates’ Flight Safety and Operations team is flying to Melbourne to investigate the matter. They will join Emirates’ engineers already present on site," it said.
Passengers and crew were provided with hotel accommodation and alternative travel arrangements on the next available flights, the statement said. "Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused to the passengers. The safety of our passengers and crew is top priority." Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Ian Brokenshire said its officers were headed to Melbourne.
"We have started the investigation and we will be sending a team of four to Melbourne later this afternoon to start the investigation tomorrow," he said. "We will be looking at the flight data records, getting data off that, interviewing the crew, interviewing the company representatives, inspecting the runway and aircraft."
Mr Brokenshire said a number of factors could cause a "tail hit", among them weather conditions, loading issues and handling. "It is a hazard, particularly on the longer aircraft," he said.
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