Dubai: An Emirates flight heading to Washington in December failed to properly climb and flew low and fast over Dubai, confirmed UAE’s aviation regulator in a report on Thursday.
The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) report said the pilot flying the Boeing 777 had put the aircraft’s altitude selector to 4,000 feet, which is standard. The pilot also said the instructions of the plane’s onboard computer were followed, as per the report.
“However, the aircraft rate of climb reached to a maximum of approximately 800 feet per minute. The flight crew were not able to adhere to published climb gradient of the SID (Standard Instrument Departure) due to the shallow climb,” the report found.
The GCAA also stated that while the flight data recorder was in “good condition”, the cockpit voice recorder was “overwritten”. The regulator found no damage to the aircraft and said that none of the passengers or the cabin crew were injured.
GCAA said the investigation is still ongoing and will include further examinations of:
- The root cause of the shallow climb of the aircraft and the crew performance.
- The related procedures and the implementation.
- Any other safety aspects that may arise during the course of this Investigation.
“The information contained in this report is derived from the data collected during the initial investigation of the occurrence. The final report may contain amended information when new evidence becomes available during the ongoing investigation,” said GCAA.
