All passengers arrived safely at their destination. They were able to rebook all flights due to the flight diversion occurring from the Heathrow Airport. The trip to Dubai for the entire passenger group was complete except for the unexpected long diversion to fly around London.
Circling For Two Hours Before Getting Nowhere
Not all Dubai flights leave Heathrow from London to fly to Dubai fly directly over London; the A380 Emirates flight flying from London to Dubai spent nearly the first two hours of its flight time circling London at 10,000 feet.
This unexpected elongated trip over London lasted due to the need to reduce fuel first before landing again.
The passengers in the aircraft were well aware that the takeoff had already taken place; that the aircraft was now in the air; that the destination of Dubai was confirmed; and yet they sat for over two hours in the middle of the journey while the aircraft continuously circled London, without making any progress.
The Technical Issue That Occurred
Shortly after the flight took off from Heathrow, the Airbus A380 encountered a technical malfunction on its landing gear system. While the passengers onboard were unaware of any of the events taking place in the cockpit, pilots are always concerned about any issues developing with landing gear on board aircraft; therefore, the appropriate action to take for pilot safety is to return to the departure point.
Since a fully loaded aircraft cannot immediately land, the crew was maintaining altitude while weighing down the aircraft by reducing fuel weight, allowing the crew time to return the aircraft to Heathrow Airport.
An Uneventful Landing Is A Good Thing
Finally, the airplane landed on a runway at London Heathrow. There were emergency response personnel stationed all over the place in case anything happened after the plane landed. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything that happened that warranted their presence, only a few standard safety measures.
After being escorted off the plane and leaving the terminal area, there was no one injured or hurt, and everything went smoothly without any significant problems whatsoever, other than a lot of uncertainty from the passengers and their phones exploding with activity.
The Airline Kept It Simple
The airline did not make it complicated for customers; rather, they kept things very simple: The airline acknowledged the inconvenience, expressed gratitude for being patient, and promised that safety comes before the airline’s flight schedule.
Thus, the airline found alternative flight arrangements for customers and rebooked them for later travel.
Why These Decisions Are Important
While to people outside aviation the act of flying in a circle may seem like a scary thing to do; however, to someone inside aviation, flying in a circle is exactly what a system of safety is supposed to do: There are no shortcuts and no force on the pilot to “push through” to a technical issue.
Turning back maybe hurt some timelines; however, it protects people; and no airline is going to negotiate the true trade-off of life versus time.
This situation shouldn’t be seen as a scare story; rather, it was a reminder of what the system is designed to do.
There are many examples of aeroplanes making unplanned diversions for very small reasons. When airplanes do make an unplanned diversion, that usually translates to the system doing exactly what it is designed to do. There are ways to fix a delayed plan, but once safety is lost, you can never regain it.
So yes, Dubai had to wait, but everyone was given the opportunity to get there safely.
