Emirates A380 Wake Accused of Disrupting Corporate Jet

Amsterdam, Netherlands - April 19, 2015: An Emirates Airbus A380 with the registration A6-EOA taking off at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) in the Netherlands. The Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner. Emirates is an airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the biggest customer for Airbus A380 aircraft. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Smaller aircraft allegedly caught engine output, resulting in severe loss of altitude and injuries.

An Emirates A380-800 flying over the Arabian Sea is accused of disrupting a smaller corporate jet flying in the same area, causing the lesser aircraft to roll upside-down, lose 10,000 feet of altitude and injure those aboard the aircraft. In details posted by the Aviation Herald, the extreme turbulence caused irreparable damage to the aircraft, while the occupants were sent to the hospital.

The incident was reported to take place on Jan. 7, 2017, when the two aircraft allegedly met in the same airspace. The Emirates A380 departed Dubai en route to Sydney, while the Canadair Challenger 604 was flying from the Maldives to Abu Dhabi. During the flight, the smaller corporate jet flew approximately 1,000 feet below the A380, causing the flight to get caught in the turbulence of the larger aircraft. As a result, the flight crew lost control of their aircraft: the smaller jet tumbled in-air between three and five times and dropped 10,000 feet in altitude.

During the dive, the Challenger experienced higher G-force load than it was built for, resulting in significant damage. The pilots were able to recover one engine before declaring an emergency and making an emergency landing in Muscat, Oman. The emergency landing and the injuries were confirmed by the Oman Civil Aviation Authority, which further commented that one passenger was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. However, many questions about the incident remain.

“The Aviation Herald is currently unable to substantiate details of the occurrence, [as] no radar data are available for the business jet,” the site wrote. “It is therefore unclear when the business jet departed from Male and where the actual ‘rendezvous’ with the A380 took place.”

As a result of the incident, the aircraft disaster site reports air traffic controllers have been given specific warnings about allowing aircraft to cross in the same airspace as the A380. In addition, the site claims that at least six other flights between 2009 and 2012 were disrupted by the air wake created by the A380.

[Photo: Shutterstock]