saw the aircraft land at manchester Airport yesterday afternoon, it was lovely.

Photo's of Emirates A380-800 at Manchester as promised, callsign Emirates-17-super:









Departing back to Dubia as Emirates-18-super



Darren

Thanks for the pictures Darren. We couldn`t make it on Wednesday due to work but we will be going out one weekend to see her land and take off. Enjoy your hoidays in Mexico
ps. did you take the pictures at the viewing park or is there a better place to see her?

christine w wrote:

did you take the pictures at the viewing park or is there a better place to see her?

I never go to the Ringway Viewing Park (as it's called now). They've changed their pricing structure and it's become really expensive to spend a couple of hours there. The views of the aircraft aren't as good as where I go either and because the park is south facing, you have the sun (when it shines!) in your eyes until the late afternoon so it's no good for photography. Someone should have told the BBC that last Wednesday when their coverage of the first landing was poor and severely backlit! You're better off going to the south side of the runway on the grass embankments where the sun is on your back and best of all, it's free! The only disadvantage is a lack of facilities but the views, as you can see, more than make up for that.

christine w wrote:

Enjoy your hoidays in Mexico

Thanks, this time next week ......

Darren

Saw the 380 parked up the other day - after a go around? Gone tech?

Nivsy

nivsy wrote:

Saw the 380 parked up the other day - after a go around? Gone tech?

24 hour delay due to an electrical problem (A6-EDL). The regular EK018 departed at 1436 (A6-EDH, gate 12) with the delayed flight, EK8018 at 1503 (stand 62). It was a tight squeeze on the apron this afternoon!

Darren

We were at Manchester a couple of weeks ago to see the A380 and were disappointed that it took off from the other runway which made it harder to see. Does it always take off from the 2nd runway? Just want to know before I go up there next

Son Of Homer wrote:

Does it always take off from the 2nd runway?

It depends on the wind direction. When runways 23 are in operation (winds from the west), it'll always land on 23R and take off on 23L. It uses 23L as it's a longer runway so the safety margins are increased. If the winds are from the east, it'll always land on 05R and take off on 05L.

Darren

Flew back from Sydney at the beginning of October. Seated in row 87. enjoyed watching it take off and land on the seat back screen.

Darren how do I get to the south side of the runway for the best views of the A380. We are going to stay next Saturday night at the Travelodge and hopefully see the A380 on the Sunday. Hoping to see it land at 12.30 and depart at 1400.

I have a map in my favorites of viewing locations from the Aviation society, is the best place listed here.

Thanks

christine w,

It depends on the wind conditions on the day where the best places to go are. I posted details here. If runway 23's are in operation, you want to be at the approach of 23R to see it land, and at the 23L 'mound' to see it depart (as in my photos above). If runway 05's are in use, you need to be at the touchdown area or anywhere along 05R to see it land, and it'll take off on 05L so anywhere on the south side, the mound on 23L is as good as anywhere or Joe's Field if you want to see it at the rotation point. Places to park are the lane just to the south of the runway tunnels off Wilmslow Road (used to be called Altrincham Road) or Moss lane to the east of the airfield. They should be shown on the map you have. Bear in mind now the clocks have gone back, EK17 arrives at 1145 and EK18 departs at 1330.

Darren

Thanks Darren and thanks for pointing out the new arrival and departure times.

I see this morning that Quantas have grounded their A380s... apparently there was an engine failure after take off from Sydney and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Singapore....

Emirates' A380s are still in service...

Darren, have you heard anything??

ATB,J.

Qantas grounds A380s following emergency landing

Qantas has suspended scheduled A380 takeoffs after a flight from London to Sydney made a forced landing following engine trouble in the early hours of this morning.

Initial rumours that the A380, flight QF32, had crashed over Indonesia's Batam Island were immediately denied by Qantas which said that engine issues soon after take off necessitated the emergency landing but that the plane was still entirely safe.

Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said Qantas would suspend A380 services "until we are confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met."

Pictures of the aircraft on the runway at Changi show a badly damaged engine casing.

In a statement, Qantas said: "The aircraft had 440 passengers and 26 crew on board.

In line with procedure, the pilot sought priority clearance for its return to Singapore. The aircraft landed safely at 11.45am local time.

"Some media reports suggested the aircraft had crashed. These reports are incorrect. No Qantas aircraft has crashed."

It added: "We have commenced our own investigations as to how this incident occurred."
Witnesses to the incident report that they heard a loud explosion and saw plumes of smoke as the plane flew overhead and saw pieces of fuselage drop to the ground.

This is the first mid-air emergency experienced by the A380 which was introduced in 2007.

With permission from Travelmole

merseygull,

Yes, and some media reports that have been banded around are inaccurate as they originally reported a Qantas aircraft had crashed, which is not the case. QF32 (A380-842, VH-OQA) departed Changai for Sydney this morning and suffered an engine failure (engine No2) soon after take-off. Standard procedures were followed, the engine shut down, fuel was burnt/dumped to reduce it's weight for landing and the aircraft landed safely at 1145z. 4 engined aircraft can fly on 3 engines without a problem! The original reports that assumed an aircraft crashed was due to engine debris being found on the Indonesian island of Batam following a loud explosion. It was fragments of the engine. I must say, it looks to have been a serious engine failure (uncontained, causing damage to the wing), hence the precaution of grounded their fleet for checks and further investigation. Qantas A380's are Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powered, as are Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Emirates are Engine Alliance GP7200 powered, as are Air France. That's why other fleets using different engines aren't grounded, there's no need to. Singapore are delaying some A380 flights subjet to advice from Rolls-Royce and Airbus. For some reason, the media always hype things up whenever an incident effecting Qantas and the A380 occurs. An engine failure of a Boeing 747 probably wouldn't even make the news.

EDIT: You beat me to it David!

Darren

Thank you both for clarifying/correcting...

Hope they get to the bottom of the problem without fuss/bother

ATB,J.

Hi Darren engine failure on Qantas 747-400 made the news yesterday seems that they are not having the best press over the past 6months.

qatarman,

The 744 incident was less of an issues than the A380 and just a co-incidenace. Qantas are having a run of bad luck lately.

Darren

Bad luck is when someone throws up over the new carpet on the first flight. Engine failing and damaging the wing is slightly more serious - I hope! Tell me everytime we take off the pilot isn't crossing his fingers hoping the engine will end the flight in the same number of pieces as it started!!!