Newsstand - Sydney Emergency Landing scare for China Eastern Airlines jet

Sydney Emergency Landing scare for China Eastern Airlines jet

TV news just showed photos of a China Eastern jet that seems to have skidded off the tarmac after landing an hour ago. No link I can post to any more details.

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~ Glen ~

Several hours later. Reports are that the 194 pax and 16 crew on the Airbus are not seriously injured. They were taken to a "disaster welfare centre" after the landing. Plane circled and dumped fuel at sea after take off.

ONE only announcement was made on board during the entire incident .. IN CHINESE (!) and not another word was ever uttered say the pax on TV. No apology, no explanation of the problem.

Airline briefed media before talking to relatives. Emergency landing on N/S runway saw plane spin right around. Front wheels got bogged in dirt. Airport closed for 30 minutes - all runways. Full emergency announced.

Phew.

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~ Glen ~

Full report:

http://www.smh.com.au/breaking/0011/01/A20430-2000Nov1.shtml

China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 561 skidded across the tarmac on landing at Sydney International Airport today, coming to rest on a grass verge alongside the runway.

No one was injured in the incident, according to police at the scene.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2000/11/973085483.html

After the incident relatives and friends were kept in total info blackout by the airport officials. After several hours a spokesperson went to inform the MEDIA instead of going to relatives first!! Now, how caring is that?

Well, this airline never won any international customer service awards. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) has launched an investigation into an incident at Sydney Airport in which a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A340 aircraft swerved off the runway on November 1.

The captain had apparently circled the airport four times and advised air traffic control that the aircraft had hydraulics problems.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2000/11/973423829.html

Just curious, but if a plane is reporting hydraulic problems, would this not constitute an emergency landing? or is it a technical stop?

If it is an emergency landing, then why was the airport not in full disaster mode BEFORE landing? I seem to remember than 10 or 15 ambulances were called out. Either the Aussies have VERY big ambulances, or they do not expect many people will live.

A lucky day in Sydney!!

[This message has been edited by davistev (edited 11-05-2000).]

Oh yeah, this went down as the full Emergency landing I think:

Ambulance and fire service units were also standing by, with the plane stopped about 200 metres from a section of runway.

Airservices Australia (AA), the government organization that coordinates air traffic nationally, said the pilot of the aircraft reported landing gear difficulties just before touching down.

"He notified of a problem with the plane's hydraulics which led us to instigate standby emergency procedures," AA spokesman Scott Sloane said.

"But when the aircraft came to a halt off the runway, police and ambulance crews were also called in," he said.

"But when the aircraft came to a halt off the runway, police and ambulance crews were also called in," he said.

My point exactly. A full emergency situation requires full response BEFORE the plane attempts to land. It seems that either Sydney needs to review their response procedures or the Pilot needs to be asked why he did not declare an emergency.