Dubai: Etihad Airways has confirmed that a Sydney-bound Etihad passenger jet made an emergency landing after it returned to Abu Dhabi International Airport due to a faulty engine.
Roughly 30 minutes into the flight following an 11:15am departure on Tuesday from the airport, Flight EY450 returned to Abu Dhabi to ensure the safety of 329 passengers aboard the twin-engined Boeing 777-300 aircraft.
No injuries were reported.
“Etihad Airways flight EY450 to Sydney returned to Abu Dhabi shortly after take-off following the failure of one of the aircraft’s engines,” a spokesperson told Gulf News in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
The airline lauded its crew for bringing the plane back safely.
“The pilots and cabin crew carried out the emergency procedures before landing which they practice regularly during their routine training details. The crew are to be commended for their calm professionalism which ensured a safe outcome for all our guests,” the spokesperson said.
“The aircraft is undergoing corrective maintenance action and an alternative aircraft operated the new service. Local hotel accommodation was arranged for the 329 passengers who were re-booked onto later flights to Australia.”
An Australia newspaper account quoted passengers as saying the emergency landing was frightening and passengers were screaming.
One passenger said that she saw that the planes tyres were damaged due to what unconfirmed media reports called a high-speed emergency landing.
In a statement on Wednesday, meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Airports noted that passenger traffic through the airport was continuing to climb in the first eight months of this year, compared to 2015.
In August 2016, Abu Dhabi International Airport welcomed 2.3 million passengers, marking an increase of 2.3 per cent compared to August 2015. Since the beginning of the year, passenger traffic has grown 6.2 per cent from the same period last year, with 16,422,763 passengers between January 1 and August 31.
Total arrivals numbered 1,119,616, signifying a 2.3 per cent increase.
Airport officials are currently overseeing a multi-billion dollar re-development and expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport to “increase the overall capacity of the airport to more than 45 million passengers per year. As part of this redevelopment, a second runway and a third terminal have been completed,” said the airport in its statement.
