Emirates Flight 521 Crash

EMIRATES BOEING 777-21H A6-EWE (MSN 35582)

On the 3rd August 2016, EK 521 carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew crashed while attempting a go round at Dubai International Airport. Emirates Flight 521 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Trivandrum International Airport (TRV/VOTV), India to Dubai International Airport (DXB/OMDB), United Arab Emirates.

All 300 people on board survived the accident; 32 were injured, 4 were seriously injured. An airport firefighter died during the rescue operation and another seven firefighters were injured. 

The aircraft departed Trivandrum, India at 05:06 hours UTC. The captain was the pilot flying (PF), and the copilot was the pilot monitoring (PM). As the flight neared Dubai, the crew received the automatic terminal information service (ATIS) Information Zulu, which included a windshear warning for all runways.

During the approach, at 08:36:00 UTC (12:36 local time), with the autothrottle system in SPEED mode, as the aircraft descended through a radio altitude (RA) of 1,100 feet, at 152 knots IAS, the wind direction started to change from a headwind component of 8 knots to a tailwind component.

At 08:37:07, 159 knots IAS, 35 feet RA, the PF started to flare the aircraft. The autothrottle mode transitioned to IDLE and both thrust levers were moving towards the idle position. At 08:37:12, 160 knots IAS, and 5 feet RA, five seconds before touchdown, the wind direction again started to change to a headwind.

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 copilot 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.

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 came to rest adjacent to the Mike 13 taxiway at a magnetic heading of approximately 240 degrees. After the aircraft came to rest, fire was emanating from the No. 2 engine, the damaged RH engine-pylon wing attachment area and from under the aircraft fuselage. Approximately one minute after, the captain transmitted a "MAYDAY" call and informed air traffic control that the aircraft was being evacuated.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 777-31H with registration A6-EMW, serial number 32700, and line number 434. It was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines and was thirteen years old, having made its first flight on the 7th March 2003. It was delivered new to Emirates on  the 28th March 2003.

The accident is the only hull loss of an Emirates aircraft.