dpFRANKFURT — An Emirates Airbus A380 en route from Dubai to London Heathrow was forced to declare a general emergency and make an unscheduled diversion to Frankfurt Airport on Thursday.
Flight EK31, operated by a 500-plus-seat Airbus A380-800 (registration A6-EDX), departed Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 07:30 UTC for its scheduled 7-hour and 20-minute journey to London Heathrow (LHR).
Roughly six hours into the flight, while cruising at 40,000 feet over European airspace, the flight crew transmitted transponder code Squawk 7700, the international signal for a general emergency. Immediately following the declaration, the double-decker aircraft initiated a rapid descent out of cruising altitude and requested a divert vector to Frankfurt Airport (FRA).
FLIGHT DETAILS:
• Flight Number: Emirates EK31
• Aircraft Type: Airbus A380-800
• Registration: A6-EDX
• Route: Dubai (DXB) ➔ London Heathrow (LHR)
• Diverted To: Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
• Incident Trigger: Squawk 7700 (General Emergency) at FL400
To minimize disruption for the stranded passengers, the carrier has arranged a recovery leg, scheduling a new departure from Frankfurt (FRA) to London Heathrow at 17:30 local time. The plane is expected to land at 16:13.
Emirates subsequently confirmed the diversion, citing operational reasons. The airline is in the process of rebooking any impacted connecting flights to final destination and will send updated itinerary shortly.
Updates
- On final approach to FRA airport, runway 25L.
- Touch down at 16:09 local time.
- Vacated the runway.
- Parked on remote stand of the airport.
- Scheduled departure moved to 18:00.
- Emirates is indicating that flight EK31 diverted to Frankfurt due to a medical emergency involving a passenger onboard. The cabin crew provided assistance during the flight, and medical support was arranged on arrival. The passenger disembarked to receive further medical attention.
