Emirates flight to Washington flew too low on take-off [Report]

A Washington-bound Emirates flight flew at a low altitude as it took off from Dubai, according to a preliminary report from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aviation authority on the incident.

According to the details, no one was injured on December 19, 2021 Emirates flight EK 231, which landed uneventfully at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, but the aircraft’s initial takeoff experienced an unexplained shallow climb. The Boeing 777-300ER flight had 372 people on board, including 354 passengers, 14 cabin crew and four flight crew members.

The report from UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which classified the event as a “serious incident,” said the pilot set the plane’s altitude selector to 4,000 feet (1,219 meters), which is standard procedure, having noticed that it was set to 0000 feet.

After the aircraft took off, the landing gears were retracted, but the rate of climb was initially low, reaching about 800 feet per minute. “The commander stated that after lift-off, and during climb, she followed the flight director command,” the GCAA report said.

Emirates 777-300 Nearly Crashed Due to Pilot Error

UAE regulator investigating aborted Emirates take-off at Dubai airport

“However, the aircraft rate of climb reached a maximum of approximately 800 feet per minute. The flight crew were not able to adhere to published climb gradient of the SID (standard instrument departure) due to the shallow climb.”

The report also says that the cockpit voice recorder file was “overwritten”. Investigations into the incident are ongoing, which will examine the root cause of the shallow climb and crew performance. A final report will be issued in due course.

It is to be remembered that a Washington-bound Boeing 777 nearly impacted the ground after the flight failed to properly set a climb, which resulted in the flight director, a system similar to autopilot, nearly plunging the aircraft into the ground after take off.