Passengers Horrified After Completing Majority of 14-Hour Flight With Large Hole in Plane
Passengers on a recent Emirates flight were shocked to discover that their plane had a large hole in it for the majority of their 14-hour flight.
On Friday (July 1), flight A360 took off from Dubai and landed safely at Brisbane International Airport at 10:45PM local time despite a malfunction that caused a large hole to form in the side of the aircraft.
Passengers on board heard a loud bang approximately 45 minutes after the plane departed Dubai, though they were unaware of what had happened to the aircraft until they landed.
Somehow, the aircraft managed to complete its 14-hour flight safely. When the plane landed, passengers were horrified to discover the gaping hole caused by a mechanical error.
According to the Courier Mail, when passengers disembarked, they discovered a large hole that had been torn into the left fuselage. A passenger named Patrick told the outlet that the crew on the flight were calm despite the loud noise.
"There was a loud bang and I felt it through the floor as well," Patrick said. "The cabin crew remained calm, stopped the food service and got on the phone and checked the wings, engines."
Another passenger, Chris, shared that "before we landed they told us we had to land on a different runway and get an engineer to inspect the plane for a suspected landing gear problem."
A spokesperson for the airline told media outlets that the hole was created when a bolt detached from the nose gear.
"Our flight EK430 flying from Dubai to Brisbane on July 1 experienced a technical fault during cruise," the spokesperson stated. "The aircraft landed safely in Brisbane and all passengers disembarked as scheduled. The aircraft will remain in Brisbane for assessment and repairs. The safety of our passengers and crew has always been our top priority."
Other footage from passengers showed that the landing tire seemed to be also damaged. The aircraft is currently being repaired.