By Geoffrey Thomas
AN ERROR in which pilots entered wrong information into a computer appears to have caused an accident involving an Emirates A340-500 at Melbourne Airport last month.
The incorrect information reduced the 258-seat plane's take-off speed. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau classified the "significant event" on March 20 as an accident.
It is investigating how the wrong speed was selected, which resulted in the take-off being attempted at below the required minimum flying speed, resulting in a tail scrape and damage to airport landing lights.
An Emirates spokesperson said yesterday the bureau's report had not been finalised, so it would be inappropriate to comment.
But sources at Melbourne Airport said the pilots may have entered the wrong take-off weight for the plane. This calculates the take-off speed, which is then manually fed into the computer that sets the take-off thrust setting. Virtually all airlines use only the thrust required for a safe take-off, rather than full thrust, to reduce engine wear significantly.
The maximum take-off weight for the A340-500 is 368 tonnes. The flight from Melbourne to Dubai would have required a take-off weight close to maximum. The plane took off on runway 16, which is 3657 metres long, at 10.30pm.
With the wrong speed and thrust settings, the plane did not get airborne and ended up on its tail, which scraped along the runway.
The A340-500 lifted off after it had left the end of the runway. It hit approach lights and disabled the runway's instrument landing system antenna.
The crew flew the plane safely out over Port Phillip Bay to dump fuel before returning to the airport. However, smoke in the cabin cut this operation short after 30 minutes and forced an early return for a heavy landing.
Sources at Emirates have revealed that the two pilots resigned on April 2.