Emirates Flight 77 was a scheduled flight from Thomas Anderson International Airport in Vista Union to RoDubai International Airport in Emiratopia with a stopover at Perth International Airport in Bloxstralia. The incident was when the aircraft (a Robus R340-541)’s engines 1 and 2 exploded in departure from Perth International.
Aircraft
The aircraft was an 8 month old Robus R340-541 built in 2006. It had its first flight on November 27, 2006 and was delivered to Emirates on January 13, 2007, with its first flight for Emirates being RoDubai-Dahanani. Its tail number/registration was A6-ERC. It had accommodated about 1,556 hours flying. The aircraft was mainly deployed on Vista Union and Bloxjiado flights.
Crew
The flight crew was unnamed, but both were mentioned to be very experienced pilots, with 95% of their career on the R340.
Incident
EK77 lined up on Perth International’s Runway 15 for takeoff. What the crew had not noticed was that the engine turbine was fractured, although they recieved no notice about it during the inspection. Almost halfway through the runway, engines 1 & 2 exploded. The flight crew quickly applied reverse thrust which had made the fire a little bit worse. The aircraft came to a stop close to the end of the runway. Everyone survived.
Aftermath
The aircraft was repaired at Perth International and was in service until it was withdrawn from use in 2012.