An Emirates A380 from Bangkok, bound for Dubai, made an emergency landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad after the pilots detected a technical snag early on Sunday.
The Emirates aircraft EK385, with 481 passengers on board, touched down at 03:45 hrs. A full contingent of fire tenders, ambulances and support staff was on standby to provide emergency assistance.
The aircraft, which was flying over central India, was diverted and permitted to land in RGIA. The Airport Rescue Fire Fighters (RFF) upgraded themselves rom CAT-9 to CAT-10 category to ensure safe landing of the aircraft.
The aircraft has been towed to the parking bay and passengers have been sent to Dubai on alternative aircraft. While 80 passengers boarded a Hyderabad – Dubai Emirages flight (EK527), another special flight was operated by Emirates later in the day. A few more will fly on Sunday evening to their destination.
The RGIA is capable to handle Code-F aircraft movements.
Interestingly, today's incident is the third time an Airbus A-380s touched down on the Shamshabad tarmac. The first was a ferry flight in October 2008. In June 2011, a Sydney - Dubai commercial aircraft (EK-413) landed because of a medical emergency.
