Emirates Flight 521

Emirates Flight 521 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Thiruvananthapuram, India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates,[2] operated by Emirates using a Boeing 777-300.[3] On 3 August 2016, the aircraft carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew[4][5] crashed while landing at Dubai International Airport.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Emirates Flight 521
A6-EMW, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in 2009
Accident
Date3 August 2016 (2016-08-03)
SummaryCrashed during go-around due to pilot error in failure to monitor thrust[1]:134
SiteDubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
25°14′51″N 55°22′46″E
Total fatalities1
Total injuries39
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 777-31H
OperatorEmirates
IATA flight No.EK521
ICAO flight No.UAE521
Call signEmirates 521
RegistrationA6-EMW
Flight originTrivandrum International Airport, Thiruvananthapuram, India
DestinationDubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Occupants300
Passengers282
Crew18
Fatalities0
Injuries32
Survivors300 (all)
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities1
Ground injuries7

All 300 people on board survived the accident; 32 were injured, 4 were seriously injured.[1] An airport firefighter died during the rescue operation and another 7 were injured.[1][11] The accident is the only hull loss of an Emirates aircraft.[12]

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 777-31H[note 1] with the registration A6-EMW, serial number 32700, and line number 434. It was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines and was thirteen years old, having made its first flight on 7 March 2003.[13] It was delivered new to Emirates on 28 March 2003, and had logged more than 58,000 flight hours in 13,000 cycles before the crash.[1]:14

The captain was an unnamed 34-year-old UAE national who had been with Emirates since March 2001 and had logged 7,457 flight hours, including 5,123 hours on the Boeing 777.[1] The first officer was 37-year-old Jeremy Webb, an Australian national who had been with Emirates since October 2014 and had 7,957 flight hours, with 1,292 of them on the Boeing 777.[1][14]

Flight

On 3 August 2016, Flight EK521 took off from Trivandrum International Airport (TRV) at 10:34 IST (05:04 UTC), 29 minutes after its scheduled departure time. It was scheduled to land at Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 12:24 GST (08:24 UTC).[15]

The approach and landing were normal from the air traffic control (ATC) point of view, with no emergency declared according to ATC recordings at the time.[16][17] The crew reported that they were going around, after which the tower instructed them to climb to 4,000 feet, which was acknowledged by the crew. Shortly after, the tower instructed the next flight to go around and alerted emergency services.[16] Wind shear and an ambient temperature of 48 °C (118 °F) were reported.[13]

The accident occurred at 12:37 GST (08:37 UTC). Significant wind shear affected the aircraft's airspeed through late final approach, and the aircraft touched down onto the 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) long runway 12L at a point approximately 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) beyond the threshold, at a speed of 162 knots (300 km/h; 186 mph).[1] Two seconds later, the cockpit RAAS issued a "LONG LANDING" [note 2] warning and the crew initiated a go-around.[1] Six seconds after main-wheel touchdown, and with the nose-wheel still off the runway, the aircraft became airborne again after rotating to climb attitude. The flap setting was reduced to 20°, and the undercarriage was selected to retract, but the engine throttle remained unchanged because activation of go-around automation is inhibited after touchdown. The aircraft attained a maximum height above the runway of 85 feet (26 m) with its indicated airspeed decreasing, before commencing to settle back towards the ground. Twelve seconds after becoming airborne the crew manually advanced the throttles to maximum, but the aircraft continued to sink and it impacted the runway with its undercarriage in a partially retracted state three seconds later.[1](pp81-86)

The aircraft first impacted with the underside of its rear fuselage and skidded about 800 metres (2,600 ft) along runway 12L with its landing gear partly retracted as it turned to the right about 120 degrees.[1] As the aircraft skidded down the runway, the number 2 (starboard) engine detached and slid along the wing's leading edge toward the wingtip.[1] Firefighting appliances were at the aircraft less than 90 seconds after it came to rest (which was 33 seconds after the initial impact) and started to fight fires at several locations as all 300 passengers and crew were safely evacuated.[1][19] Videos from inside the aircraft, taken on passengers' cellphone cameras, showed the passengers failing to evacuate, instead giving priority to carry-on luggage, resulting in an overly long evacuation and heavy criticism.[20] Nine minutes after the aircraft came to a stop, with only the aircraft captain and the senior flight attendant still on board (checking for any remaining passengers), there was an explosion as flames reached the aircraft's center fuel tank. The explosion resulted in the death of a firefighter,[1](p36–38) a Ras al-Khaimah resident named Jasim Issa Mohammed Hasan.[21] Thirty-two of the aircraft's occupants were injured, including the captain and the senior flight attendant, who evacuated after the explosion; the senior flight attendant was the only person among the passengers and crew seriously injured, suffering from smoke inhalation.[16][1](p7) In addition, seven firefighters were injured,[1](p7) several of the firefighters suffering from heat stroke.[1][22] The explosion resulted in the fire spreading to the aircraft's cabin; it took firefighters 16 hours to bring the fire under control.[1] The airport was closed during and following the accident, which resulted in many diverted flights.[23]

Passengers

The aircraft carried 282 passengers and 18 crew members.[24]

People on board by nationality[25]
NationNumber
Australia2
Bosnia and Herzegovina1
Brazil2
Belgium2
Canada2
Croatia1
Egypt1
France1
Germany2
India226
Ireland4
Lebanon1
Malaysia2
Philippines1
Saudi Arabia6
South Africa1
Switzerland1
Thailand2
Tunisia1
Turkey5
United Arab Emirates11
United Kingdom24
United States6
Total300

Investigation

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) carried out an investigation into the accident,[26] assisted by Emirates; the aircraft's manufacturer Boeing; and Rolls-Royce, the manufacturer of the 777's engines.[27] In addition, the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a five-person team to join the other investigators.[28] The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were removed from the aircraft the day after the accident.[22][29] A preliminary report into the accident was published in September 2016,[8][30] and an interim statement in August 2017.[31] A preliminary report found that the pilot attempted to take off again after briefly touching down, and that the plane ultimately hit the runway as its landing gear was still retracting.[8]


The final report was released on February 6th, 2020.[32][1] In the report, the following was noted in the causes section:

The flight crew did not effectively scan and monitor the primary flight instrumentation parameters during the landing and the attempted go-around. The flight crew were unaware that the autothrottle (A/T) had not responded to move the engine thrust levers to the TO/GA position after the Commander pushed the TO/GA switch at the initiation of the FCOM ̶ Go-around and Missed Approach Procedure.[33]

Aftermath

Following the accident, the airport was closed for 5½ hours; many flights were diverted to nearby airports such as Abu Dhabi International Airport, Sharjah International Airport, and Al Maktoum International Airport.[34] The closure led Emirates and flydubai to cancel several of their flights,[35][36] and also affected 23,000 passengers at the airport.[37] Dubai International Airport resumed operations at 18:30 local time,[38][39] at restricted capacity, utilizing only one runway and maximizing the use of the runways at Al Maktoum International Airport.[37] Arriving aircraft were prioritized over departure flights.[40] The damaged runway was repaired and reopened at 17:45 local time on 4 August,[40][41][42] and the airport resumed normal operations on 6 August, 72 hours after the accident.[43][44]

On 11 August, eight days after the crash, Emirates provided US$7000 in compensation for each of the 282 passengers.[45]

Emirates changed the flight number of the Trivandrum to Dubai service to EK523.[46]

Notes
  1. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-300 model; Boeing assigns a unique code for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as an infix to the model number at the time the aircraft is built, hence "777-31H".
  2. The Runway Awareness Advisory System's "LONG LANDING" monitor warning indicates when an aircraft has not touched down within a pre-configured distance from the runway threshold, which may result in the remaining runway length being insufficient to bring the aircraft to a complete stop.[18]

References
  1. "Final Report: AAIS Case No: AIFN/0008/2016 Runway Impact during Attempted Go-Around" (PDF). General Civil Aviation Authority. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. @Emirates (3 August 2016). "Emirates airline on Twitter" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Playback of Emirates flight EK521". Flightradar24. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  4. Mitchell, Georgina (3 August 2016). "Smoke pours from plane after 'crash-landing' incident at Dubai Airport". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  5. "Emirates flight EK521 from Thiruvananthapuram crash lands at Dubai airport – Firstpost". 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  6. @Emirates (3 August 2016). "Emirates airline on Twitter" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "Emirates plane crash-lands at Dubai airport". BBC News. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  8. "Preliminary Report AAIS Case No: AIFN/0008/2016 Runway Impact During Attempted Go-Around" (PDF). General Civil Aviation Authority. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  9. Dean, Jon (3 August 2016). "Emirates plane crash fire: Live updates after jet crash-lands at Dubai International Airport with 24 Brits on board". Mirror. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  10. Burke, Louise (3 August 2016). "Dubai plane crash: Emirates expects network-wide delay after flight EK521 bursts into flames on crash-landing". Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  11. "Firefighter dies responding to Emirates plane fire at Dubai airport". The National (UAE). 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  12. "Fire guts Emirates jet after hard landing; one firefighter dies". Reuters. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  13. Ranter, Harro. "A6-EMW Accident description". aviation-safety.net. Flight Safety Foundation which owns the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  14. "Australian co-pilot Jeremy Webb escaped Emirates plane crash in Dubai". News.com.au. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  15. "Emirates 521 – 03-Aug-2016/ TRV – DXB". FlightAware. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  16. "Accident: Emirates B773 at Dubai on Aug 3rd 2016, touched down during go-around without gear, aircraft on fire". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  17. "OMDB Towers, 3 Aug 2016 0830-0900Z". LiveATC.net. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  18. Honeywell International Inc. "Product Description - SmartRunway/SmartLanding" (PDF). www51.honeywell.com. Honeywell. p. 9. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  19. @DXBMediaOffice (3 August 2016). "All reported safe" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. "Scenes from inside flight Emirates EK 521".
  21. Bond, Anthony; Evans, Sophie (3 August 2016). "Hero firefighter dies saving 282 passengers in Emirates plane crash". mirror. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  22. Cornwell, Alexander (4 August 2016). "Investigators recover EK521 recorders". Gulf News. Al Nasir Publishing. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  23. @FlightRadar24 (3 August 2016). "Dubai International Airport remains closed for takeoffs & landings after earlier #EK521 accident" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. "Emirates airliner with 300 on board crash-lands in Dubai ." Associated Press at the Los Angeles Times. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  25. "Emirates Media Statement 5." Emirates Airline Official Facebook Account (verified). 3 August 2016. Retrieved on 3 August 2016.
  26. General Civil Aviation Authority [@gcaa_uae] (3 August 2016). "(untitled)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. Cornwell, Alexander (4 August 2016). "Exclusive: Emirates EK521 investigation to take 3 to 5 months". Gulf News. Al Nasir Publishing. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  28. "Emirates jet tried to abort landing shortly before Dubai crash (VIDEO)". Malay Mail Online. Dubai. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  29. Clarke, Kelly (4 August 2016). "DXB facilities now 'fully operational', black box recovered". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  30. "Investigation into Emirates crash landing 'could take up to three years'". The National. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  31. "First Interim Statement: AAIS Case №. AIFN/0008/2016" (PDF). Abu Dhabi: General Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  32. "Final report news notice on gcaa.gov.ae". General Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  33. Deo, Ankur (22 February 2020). "Emirates Flight 521 Crash Report". Travel Radar. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  34. "Flight EK521: Landing gear issues not confirmed". Gulf News. Al Nasir Publishing. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  35. Francis, Sneha May (3 August 2016). "Flydubai cancels all flights". Emirates 247. Dubai Media Incorporated. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  36. "Flight operations resume at Dubai airport". Khaleej Times. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  37. "Dubai airport day 2: Flight cancellation and warning of delays". Gulf News. Al Nasir Publishing. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  38. Clarke, Kelly; Butalia, Nivriti (4 August 2016). "Emirates incident: Guess what costs $1 million a minute?". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  39. Francis, Sneha May; Rai, Bindu (3 August 2016). "DXB departures, arrivals resume". Emirates 247. Dubai Media Incorporated. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  40. Hanif, Nadeem (4 August 2016). "Flight disruptions expected at Dubai airport for 48 hours following crash landing". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  41. Kedem, Shoshana (4 August 2016). "Dubai International Airport reopens runway after fire on Emirates flight". 7Days. Catchpole Communications FZ-LLC. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  42. Nagraj, Aarti (4 August 2016). "Dubai airport on 'recovery mode' for next 48 hours". Gulf Business. Motivate Publishing. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  43. Cornwell, Alexander. "Dubai International returns to full capacity after Emirates fire". Gulf News. AL Nasir Publishing. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  44. Sebugwaawo, Ismail (6 August 2016). "Dubai airport flights 'back to normal' after Emirates accident". 7Days. Catchpole Communications FZ-LLC. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  45. Saseendran, Sajila (11 August 2016). "EK521 passengers 'touched' by Emirates compensation announcement". Gulf News. Al Nisr Publishing. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  46. "Flight history for Emirates flight EK523". Flightradar24. Flightradar24. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
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