Passengers on an Emirates flight to Brisbane, Australia, were taken aback when they noticed a massive hole in the side of the plane as they disembarked.
Those on board the Airbus A380 from Dubai to Sydney discovered the damage as they exited the plane after a 14-hour flight on July 1.
Images posted on social media show the extent of the puncture, which was caused by a ruptured tire caused by a “technical fault” during the flight, according to the airline.
One of the passengers on board took to Twitter to describe the “terrifying” incident that occurred “during cruise.”
“Was absolutely terrifying at first and the cabin crew knew something serious may have happened – were immediately in contact with the cockpit,” wrote Andrew Morris, an English professor at the UK’s Loughborough University.
“Shortly after, they resumed as normal. Their calm demeanor was reassuring — they knew it was not catastrophic.”
While it’s unclear how long the plane had been in the air when the problem occurred, some reports suggest it was around 45 minutes into the flight.
The incident occurred just days after the much-loved A380 superjumbo, which had been in decline prior to the pandemic, was given a reprieve when German airline Lufthansa announced plans to redeploy the plane beginning in summer 2023.
The Airbus A380 has been on its way out since Airbus announced in 2019 that production of the airliner would end.
