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| EMIRATES B777-31H -A6-EMW (CN 32700) File Photo |
Emirates Flight 521 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV/VOTV), India, to Dubai Airport (DXB/OMDB), United Arab Emirates operated by a Boeing 777-300. On the 3rd August 2016, the aircraft carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew crashed while landing at Dubai International Airport. All 300 people on board survived the accident; 24 were injured, one seriously. An airport firefighter died during the rescue operation. The aircraft departed Thiruvananthapuram, India at 05:06 hours UTC. As the flight neared Dubai, the crew received the automatic terminal information service (ATIS), which included a windshear warning for all runways. The aircraft was configured for landing with the flaps set to 30, and approach speed selected of 152 knots indicated airspeed. The aircraft was vectored for an area navigation (RNAV/GNSS) approach to runway 12L. Air traffic control cleared the flight to land, with the wind reported to be from 340 degrees at 11 knots, and to vacate the runway via taxiway Mike 9. During the approach, at 08:36:00 UTC (12:36 local time), the wind direction started to change from a headwind component of 8 knots to a tailwind component. The right main landing gear touched down at 08:37:17, approximately 1,100 meters from the runway 12L threshold at 162 knots IAS, followed three seconds later by the left main landing gear. The nose landing gear remained in the air. At 08:37:19, the aircraft runway awareness advisory system (RAAS) aural message "LONG LANDING, LONG LANDING" was annunciated. At 08:37:23, the aircraft became airborne in an attempt to go-around and was subjected to a headwind component until impact. At 08:37:27, the flap lever was moved to the 20 position. Two seconds later the landing gear lever was selected to the UP position. Subsequently, the landing gear unlocked and began to retract. At 08:37:28, the air traffic control tower issued a clearance to continue straight ahead and climb to 4,000 feet. The clearance was read back correctly. The aircraft reached a maximum height of approximately 85 feet RA at 134 knots IAS, with the landing gear in transit to the retracted position. The aircraft then began to sink back onto the runway. Both crewmembers recalled seeing the IAS decreasing and the co-pilot called out "Check speed." At 08:37:35, three seconds before impact with the runway, both thrust levers were moved from the idle position to full forward. The autothrottle transitioned from IDLE to THRUST mode. Approximately one second later, a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) aural warning of "DON’T SINK, DON’T SINK" was annunciated. One second before impact, both engines started to respond to the thrust lever movement showing an increase in related parameters. At 08:37:38, the aircraft aft fuselage impacted the runway abeam the November 7 intersection at 125 knots, with a nose-up pitch angle of 9.5 degrees, and at a rate of descent of 900 feet per minute. This was followed by the impact of the engines on the runway. The three landing gears were still in transit to the retracted position. As the aircraft slid along the runway, the No.2 engine-pylon assembly separated from the right hand (RH) wing. From a runway camera recording, an intense fuel fed fire was observed to start in the area of the damaged No.2 engine-pylon wing attachment area. The aircraft continued to slide along the runway on the lower fuselage, the outboard RH wing, and the No.1 engine. An incipient fire started on the underside of the No.1 engine. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 777-31H with the registration A6-EMW, the serial number was 32700, and the line number was 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. It was delivered new to Emirates on the 28th March 2003, and had logged more than 58,000 flight hours in 13,000 cycles before the crash.
The accident is the only hull loss of an Emirates aircraft.
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