Emirates A388 enroute on Dec 4th 2023, turbulence injures 28

Last Update: March 11, 2024 / 19:27:17 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Emirates Airlines A6-EEV, Airbus A380-800 — Emirates Airlines A6-EEV, Airbus A380-800 (Photo credit: HawkeyeUK / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 4, 2023

Classification
Accident

Airline
Emirates Airlines

Flight number
EK-421

Departure
Perth, Australia

Destination
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Aircraft Registration
A6-EEV

Aircraft Type
Airbus A380-800

ICAO Type Designator
A388

An Emirates Airbus A380-800, registration A6-EEV performing flight EK-421 from Perth,WA (Australia) to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with 463 passengers and 27 crew, was enroute at FL380 over the Arabian Sea when the aircraft encountered turbulence causing injuries to a number of cabin crew and passengers. The aircraft continued to Dubai where the aircraft landed safely on runway 30L about 10:20 hours after departure. At least one passenger received serious, 13 passengers and crew minor injuries.

The airline reported the aircraft briefly encountered unexpected turbulence mid flight resulting in a small number of crew members and passengers sustaining injuries. The crew and volunteers, with assistance from medical support via satellite link, provided medical assistance to the injures. The flight continued to Dubai, where medical services awaited the flight on landing. 14 people were assessed by medical services.

Passengers reported meal service was just in progress and was stopped when the turbulence hit. A number of people were thrown against the ceiling and back onto the floor twice leaving cracks in the cabin ceiling.

On Dec 9th 2023 a passenger reported that she had suffered three fractured ribs and bruises in her face, which came to light only by a later CT scan. She had been thrown out of her business class seat, received full force on her chest and also knocked her head badly.

On Mar 11th 2024 United Arab Emirates GCAA released their preliminary report reporting two cabin crew and three passengers received serious and 12 cabin crew and 11 passengers minor injuries. The GCAA summarized the sequence of events:

The Aircraft took off from YPPH at 1428:53 UTC. The takeoff was uneventful and smooth, as per the statement of the augmenting captain. This was confirmed by the Investigation from the data retrieved from the digital flight data recorder (DFDR).

At 2029:35 UTC, the Aircraft entered Male flight information region (FIR) from SUNAN3 waypoint. The Commander stated that there was an off-path cell forming at the 11 o’clock position. During this time, the augmenting captain, who had taken over the PM role from the right seat as the Copilot was on a break, observed the off-path weather on the radar approximately 10 o’clock position, about 20 to 30 nautical miles away, and confirmed it was visually under clear skies. The augmenting captain also stated seeing clouds below the Aircraft, noting off-path weather about 10 nautical miles ahead as a low layer of clouds significantly below the Aircraft.

About seven hours into the flight, at 2105:03 UTC, and while flying in Male’s FIR, the Aircraft encountered a severe turbulence, causing serious injuries and damage to the cabin interiors. The Aircraft exited Male’s FIR at 2145:50 UTC.

As per the Commander’s statement, after consulting the flight crew and the cabin supervisor, and considering the diagnosis of the doctors who were onboard, he decided to proceed with the flight to OMDB. As per the augmenting captain statement, a medical emergency was declared over Dubai airspace on radio telephony (RT).

At 0045:02 UTC, the Aircraft landed safely at OMDB.