A disaster was averted after one of Emirates’ Boeing 777s took off from Dubai and moved at a very low height at a breakneck pace to the very end of a runway safety area. The plane was bound for Washington DC.
As per the reports, the plane accelerated at 248 mph before leaving the ground, which is much more than the average take-off velocity. The aircraft took off after this but merely reached the height of 75ft, flying over buildings and accelerating to 269 mph.
The registration for the plane in the incident is A6-EQI, which later on accelerated to 300mph, which took it to up to 175 ft high, all of which happened at runway 30R.
Furthermore, as per the reports, the early-morning flight – EK231 – took off barely 90 metres (295 feet) from the radio beacon towers at the end.
Aside from many safety problems of flying so low and fast over buildings, instances like these, commonly known in the aviation industry as a “flap Overspeed event,” can put the aircraft under dangerous stress since it is flying too fast for the flap setting.
The sigh of relief came when the flight ascended to a safe height and completed its flight to Washington DC without issue. It was then inspected in Washington before continuing on to Dubai, where it was purportedly subjected to a four-day safety examination.
Emirates has given no explanation, and no cockpit recordings have been made public. However, an investigation into the details of the incident has been initiated.