Emergency exit 'blew open' on Hong Kong-bound Emirates A380 flight
David Reid and his son Lewis heard what they thought was a "massive explosion" two hours into Monday's flight on the £250 million (HK$3 billion) Airbus A380. Freezing air blasted in and the cabin pressure plunged after the door in business class came 4cm ajar, leaving a gaping hole, Reid said.
A British tourist has claimed an emergency exit on an Emirates Airline superjumbo blew open at more than 8,000 metres on a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong.
David Reid and his son Lewis heard what they thought was a "massive explosion" two hours into Monday's flight on the £250 million (HK$3 billion) Airbus A380. Freezing air blasted in and the cabin pressure plunged after the door in business class came 4cm ajar, leaving a gaping hole, Reid said.
A spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Department said it had not received any complaints about the incident. She said it should be investigated by the industry regulator in the country in which the airline was registered as there had been no accident and no assistance was sought. The department would not require a report from the airline.
Reid's 18-year-old son reported the incident to the British Department of Transport's air accident investigation branch, which has passed it on to air investigators at the United Arab Emirates General Authority for Civil Aviation.
Reid told Britain's Daily Mail: "We were about two hours in when suddenly there was a huge blast. It was a real shock, so loud that I thought a bomb might have gone off. Air was gushing into the cabin like a gale."
He said a stewardess jumped up and stared at the door. Her face drained white and she ran up the aisle, grabbed the intercom and started screaming: "The door's going to go, the door's going to go!" Then she hid under her chair.