EK A380 DXB-SYD diverting to PER

[JasonV]

The late running EK412 enroute DXB-SYD is diverting to PER.
ETA 06:45LT.

Not sure of the reason why.

[Mike W]

The Airport Arrivals site says it's now due @ 11.15am

I used to have a car once that was as unreliable as an Airbus. I sold it. :D

(Before I get a flaming, it's a joke. I know it may be a medical or other reason)

[JasonV]

That was the 'original' delayed arrival time. It left DXB very late at 16:15 so perhaps the diversion is an operational reason.

[BernieL]

Currently the Sydney Airport website says that EK412 to AKL is cancelled, but with a departure time of 1:00pm, which is true?

[JasonV]

EK website displays SYD-AKL cancelled.

[Gerald A]

AKL arrivals displays cancelled

[BernieL]

Thanks for checking, any ideas if it will just leave as 413 normally later tonight?

Edit: looks like she's coming in at 14:20, well; I know where I'll be this arvo.
Or not, the EK website now says 14:20 scheduled, 20:30 estimated. That's a shame.

[Lee G]

Just looked at the EK website ... the scheduled arrival time in SYD is 1420 but the estimated next to it shows as 2030 :confused:

Edit - beatme to it Bernie! .. Just called my brother in Perth to get out and have a look - EK 380 in Perth - priceless!

[BernieL]

The way I see it is; it's landed in PER- so they can start doing whatever needs to be done. I'll be crossing my fingers and obsessively checking the EK website all day to see when it takes off. I'd love to get a beach arrival of an EK 380.

[Bernie P]

Yeah, but every "market leader" can have a LEMON!

BUT, having said that, on A.net, there is a thread about EK reliability about their A380's, I wonder if this is any coincedence...??? :confused:

Any idea on rego?

[NickN]

Aircraft was A6-EDE.

[Graeme M]

Maybe the A380 was diverted to Perth to drop off passengers delayed on another flight.

It makes sense to cancel a short leg SYD-AKL-SYD, if there was capacity on the A380????

Graeme

[Montague S]

diverted due medical emergency, new crew coming over from SYD so it won't leave here until 1400 or so WST.

[BernieL]

Bad news everyone: she's not leaving Perth until 1400-1430, so she'll be coming in after dark. The original crew timed out so they are flying in a fresh crew from here. The reason for the diversion is one of the passengers had a heart-attack, I hope the passenger is okay.

[Bernie P]

The reason for the diversion is one of the passengers had a heart-attack, I hope the passenger is okay.

Here here...

[Mir Zafriz]

ETD 1400 WST from Perth
A6-EDE parked at gate 51, YPPH
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c141/mzaf/A6EDE_YPPH_150809.jpg

[Nigel C]

Apart from the fact the bird is on the ground there, is Perth A380 'ready' in terms of runways and taxiways, or was there a major post-arrival inspection of the movement area?

[Mir Zafriz]

Strengthening of the runway and enlarging the turning nodes for the Super Jumbo was completed in 2005. Emirates A6-EDE is the second A380 to Perth.

[Nigel C]

Thanks.

[Scott Loveday]

ACARS transmission to A6-EDE:

HI GENTS, BEFORE U GO
PLS RECORD THE EXCACT
LW,YOUR VERTICAL SPEED
AND YOUR ATTITUDE AT
THE TIME OF
LANDING/SYMMETRICAL ON
THE MAIN LANDING GEARS.
THIS IS REQD TO KNOW AN
INSPECTION IS REQD OR NOT.
REGDS

[Benny Zheng]

Just a reminder that this flight does not have any technical difficulties. It's just a diversion due to medical emergency...

Anyway, plane set to take off at 1710 Sydney time for Sydney, runway 21. Still as EK412.

Estimated time of arrival into Sydney is 2050 Sydney time.

[Nigel C]

I've heard to the contrary Benny. I understand that the same problem that delayed them in Dubai resurfaced in Perth when they landed, adding to the delays already caused by the medical.
As always (well, most of the time...), happy to be corrected.

ETA now 2100.

[BernieL]

With that kind of ETA- I imagine they're going to have to start worrying about the curfew. Could we be in for two EK 380s tomorrow?

21:38 arrival now and she still hasn't taken off.

[NickN]

I heard from one of the guys at the fenceline this arvo the flight will now arrive tomorrow morning there will be 2 x EK A380's in Sydney.

[Anthony J]

EK413 Flt Cancelled 15/8/2009
9:10pm 15/8/2009
9:10pm H01 Cancelled

[Graeme M]

STD 11:30am Sunday 16th

[Michael Mak]

EK412 is overflying Adelaide at FL390 at the moment, closely followed by DJ570 (PER-SYD) VH-VUJ at FL390 and behind QF566 (PER-SYD) VH-EBI at FL410.

Source: PlanePlotter

[Adam.S]

Airport website suggests a 10pm arrival into Sydney.

[Matt_L]

Last observed just north of Canberra so 10pm looks accurate.

[Gerard M]

Looks to be on finals now. 34L i presume.

[Matt D]

EK413 (A388, A6-EDC) the day before has problems too departing Sydney for Dubai

Pushed back 21:25, taxied out, waited 5 mins and taxied back to the gate with technical issues (something about a reboot). Pushed back again 22:45 for a departure just inside the curfew.

It caught up some time enroute but landed Dubai 1 hour late. A quick turn around has it leaving Dubai on time for London as UAE1 where it arrived 5 mins early.

As someone said early, still some teething problems to iron out.

[Benny Zheng]

From the Sydney airport website this morning:

EK412 time for departure seem to be pushed back till 1200.

EK413D estimated time of departure is at 1130.

[Mike W]

So are Toyotas but I still wouldn't buy one...

[Sarah C]

Interesting article on yesterdays events in todays Herald:


"ABOUT 500 passengers had a fraught journey yesterday after a flight from Dubai to Sydney was delayed by several hours then diverted to Perth.

Emirates flight EK412 was first delayed in Dubai for technical reasons, with passengers asked to disembark after waiting on board for two hours in 30-degree heat. They were finally allowed to reboard almost five hours after its due departure time. But when a female passenger became seriously ill, the pilot diverted to Perth International Airport.

Passengers then had to wait for more than six hours for a scheduled flight to Sydney.

One passenger, a 32-year-old businessman from Liverpool who asked not to be named, had been returning from a family holiday with his wife and three young children. ''Since we've departed from Dubai, the airline staff have lied to us,'' he told The Sun-Herald.

The man said passengers had only been given a $15 food voucher when they arrived in Perth and were forbidden to leave the airport."

[D Watkinson]

Hi All,

According to local EK Rep (PER) the A380's are causing many delays worldwide due to electrical issues.

Electrical problems caused the initial 6hr delay ex DXB on this A/c and again at PER.

In relation to the other issues yesterday, the female PAX was suspected of having a stroke however it was later discovered that it was a severe viral illness. Initial actions was to divert to ADL however there is no EK Ground Staff based there so PER was the only other option apart from SIN.

PAX from the flight on arrival at PER "stormed" the EK Lounge and demanded access. This resulted in AFPPS being called and offering them 2 options - leave or be arrested. Several PAX also caught by AFPPS smoking in the toilets - PER no longer has a designated 'Smoking Room' in the departures area.

Cheers, Duncan.

[Darren Butterworth]

Hi all - just walked out onto the balcony and noticed that the two EK A380s side by side (yes I only have an 18/200 lens). First time I've seen this.
749

Daz

[Nigel C]

It offered a unique photo opportunity this morning with both EK A380's parked next to each other on Bays 4 and 5 at the freight.

[Montague S]

Interesting article on yesterdays events in todays Herald:



interesting that the HUN is now being used as a reputable source...

[damien b]

One of the EK A380's went technical again this afternoon. It pushed back and waited i guess a good ten minutes before returning to the gate. Seems they are having a bad run.

[Nigel C]

It was the other one that went tech today, and has now been towed to Bay 5 at the freight.

[Carsten Bauer]

It offered a unique photo opportunity this morning with both EK A380's parked next to each other on Bays 4 and 5 at the freight.

Not as exciting as 3 x Ozjet's parked next to each other? nah....
Sorry, but Perff really is boring without stuff like this happening :)

[Philip Argy]

We could do with an update on this March 2009 status:
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/03/05/323442/airbus-works-flat-out-to-address-a380-reliability-issues.html

[Rhys Xanthis]

Not as exciting as 3 x Ozjet's parked next to each other? nah....
Sorry, but Perff really is boring without stuff like this happening :)

Ha I saw that at the airport last week, and I was excited.

You speak the truth, it's boring lol.

[damien b]

What about every other type in service as well? I know of at least two other flights delayed on Sunday due to technical issues and neither type was a A380. These are new aircraft and problems are to be expected as others have said on the board. Some of the problems would be minor in vehicles, and could wait until the next service, but they don't fall out of the sky when they stop working.

Very few aircraft fly fully serviceable and have allowable unservicebilities carried. As long as the MEL is met, the aircraft is good to go so to speak.

[Bernie P]

Very few aircraft fly fully serviceable and have allowable unservicebilities carried. As long as the MEL is met, the aircraft is good to go so to speak.

I would like to see the source for that! I find that simply MADNESS! Minor stuff, ok we can all deal with it, but what the A380's, and primarily EK A380's, are going through is more than 'teething problems'...

Singapore initial and QF had a few and these have seemed to be fuel related and a couple of electrical, but those on EK have meant either major diversions, delays or cancellations on what SEEMS to be a near daily basis!

[damien b]

Well Bernie i am the source :) Aircraft fly with unserviceabilities all the time and depending on the route they are flying, what they can fly with unserviceable will vary. CASA and other agencies like the FAA have very strict guidelines on this. Its one reason why we have MEL's, otherwise you'd have delays and disruptions all over the place.

I have been talking with technicians who work on the A380 and most of the issues are not safety related. EK has had a bad run of late, but at the same time there may be underlying issues behind the airlines problems with regards to maintenance on the A380. Every airline using the A380 so far has a different IFE for example. If EK has a different avionics system interface for example this may well be a problem. I feel it more of a interface/options issue rather than the actual aircraft causing problems from what i have heard from the guys at the front. EK did option out the A380 and they well be paying for it so to speak in terms of maintainability.

I come from a 'digital aircraft' background (C-130J) and the first 2 years we had serviceability issues. Software interfaces, upgrades, components not talking to each other, computer freezes and other 'glitches' were all experianced. Its always great when you can just turn off aircraft power, reset the aircraft just like your home pc and turn it back on and watch all the faults dissapear. The aircraft has now matured and is on the frontline in Afghanistan and was also invloved in Iraq. The A380 is probably the first really high tech commercial aircraft and it will take time for all the issues to settle and for the maintenance guys to work out the bugs and get used to the aircraft.

SQ changed the schedule for the A380 into and out of Sydney to allow for a longer turn around and EK may need to rework their schedule and allow for a longer turn around whilst the aircraft matures.

[Andrew P]

. Its always great when you can just turn off aircraft power, reset the aircraft just like your home pc and turn it back on and watch all the faults dissapear.

do you put the plane into a controlled glide, while you do the reset?

Banjo

[damien b]

Only ever done on the ground Banjo, but i do recall one occasion that a inflight reset would have been a good idea, but the crew were not game enough. :D

[Adrian B]

Blue screen of death???