Emirates denies A380 doors opened mid-air

In response to media reports that the door of an Emirates A380 aircraft opened mid-air, the airline has rubbished claims that the doors opened, or that there was loss of cabin pressure during the flight.

“We would like to clarify a few critical falsehoods,” an Emirates spokesperson told this website.

The airline has refuted claims that the door of its passenger plane (flight EK384 on Monday, February 11, 2013, between Bangkok and Hong Kong) ever opened mid-air and says that at no point was the safety of the flight in jeopardy.

“At no time during the flight did one of the upper deck doors open. There was also no loss in cabin pressurisation at any time during the flight,” the spokesperson said.

UK media had reported over the weekend that one of doors of the Emirates A380 had flung opened during the fight, at an altitude of 27,000ft.

It was reported in the UK’s Daily Mail that one of the doors of the plane started malfunctioning on the said flight. “It was complete panic. The emergency door was ajar and leaving a gaping hole. You could see straight out into the atmosphere, 27,000ft up,” one passenger was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

Clarifying the noise that may have been heard, the Emirates spokesperson added: “The noise from the door was caused by a small dimensional difference between the inflated door seal and the door lower frame striker plate, when the door is in the closed position. This is currently under investigation in conjunction with Airbus. Emirates have now fixed the problem.”

The media reports showed in-cabin pictures of a door covered by blankets. Emirates explains that “[t]he blankets were placed around the door to abate the whistling sound emanating from the door, not to prevent the door from opening.”

In addition, the Dubai-based airline refutes that passenger safety was compromised in any way during the flight. “There was no point during the incident where the safety of the flight was in jeopardy. In addition, the green light next to the door does not represent that the door is open. It is an Attendant Indication Panel and is used for communication information for the Cabin Crew,” he added.

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