If you read any of the media reports immediately after the event, you certainly would have believed that Emirates Flight 241 was in peril due to a low fuel emergency on June 1.
According to the Aviation Herald, widespread media reports said the aircraft had nearly crashed, completely ran out of fuel or landed with just 5,000 lbs of fuel remaining (below final fuel reserve).
In reality, though the final moments of the flight were far from routine, the aircraft and its passengers were never in any danger. The crew followed all of the correct precautions and procedures.
This is what happened…
Flight EK241 is a scheduled flight between Dubai (UAE) and Toronto (Canada). The Airbus A380 wearing registration A6-EDD was carrying 530 people.
Whilst on approach to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ/CYYZ), the aircraft was instructed to hold due to traffic congestion because of bad weather.
After holding for around 25 minutes, the Emirates superjumbo was cleared to land on Runway 15R. As the aircraft approached, the crew were forced to abort landing at 600 feet because of a wind shear alert.
At this point, the crew decided to head for Ottawa whilst declaring an emergency. The crew were worried that if there were any further delays they would burn into their final 30 minutes of fuel reserve.
The aircraft climbed to 23,000 feet and headed to Ottawa.
As the aircraft approached Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW), her crew reported that she still had 6.3 tons of fuel remaining and cancelled the emergency.
The aircraft landed safely on Runway 14 about 50 minutes after aborting at Toronto. The aircraft landed with more fuel than her final reserve.
The Emirates A380 had to back track up the runway in order to exit. Ottawa is not ideally suited to the superjumbo aircraft.
Another example of certain media outlets blowing things out of proportion.
Matt, founder and owner of the MCPCShowcaseHD Channel on YouTube is a keen aviation enthusiast. Having dedicated a lot of time and energy, Matt has now filmed over 500 videos of aircraft across the UK. Apart from filming he also enjoys the business side of aviation and now runs his own blog, which focuses on aviation related news and support pages for his YouTube Channel.
