Mystery hole found in side of Emirates A380 at Brisbane International Airport

Emirates says hundreds of passengers were never in danger despite a gaping hole in the side of an Airbus A380 on a 14-hour flight from Dubai to Brisbane.

Hundreds of passengers endured an almost 14-hour international flight aboard a jumbo jet with a gaping hole in its side at the weekend, but experts say they were never in any danger.

Passengers aboard the Emirates EK40 flight were shocked to discover a huge hole had appeared in the A380 Airbus as they disembarked at the Brisbane International Airport on Saturday.

The jet had flown the full 13.9-hour trip from Dubai with a significant hole in its fuselage just under the wing, likely caused by a blown tyre.

One passenger, Patrick, who was said to be seated near the hole on the flight, claimed he felt the puncture through the floor.

“There was a loud bang and I felt it through the floor as well. The cabin crew remained calm, stopped the food service and got on the phone and checked the wings, engines,” Patrick said.

Passengers and crew disembarked to find a large hole in the side of the plane. Picture: Supplied

“No one freaked out and when it was apparent that we were still flying OK the flight continued as normal. The sound was different, the wind noise pitch had changed. On landing we all clapped the crew.”

Another traveller, Chris, said he heard a loud bang roughly 45 minutes after takeoff that didn’t sound like regular turbulence.

He said the rest of the flight felt “fine” and was surprised to see the huge hole after landing at Brisbane.

“Before we landed they told us we had to land on a different runway and get an engineer to inspect the plane for a suspected landing gear problem,” Chris said.

“Landing felt really smooth. Then with the engine powered down we had to be towed. So surprised to see a hole in the side now!! (sic) Thankful it wasn’t any worse.”

But Aviation industry veteran Geoffrey Thomas said passengers were never in any danger because although the gaping hole looked “spectacularly dramatic,” it had no structural impact on the jet whatsoever.

“What was punctured was an aerodynamic fairing,” Mr Thomas said.

The plane with the hole repaired. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“When you have a wing and it joins the fuselage, it’s a very structured heavy duty piece, but it's all square, so they put what’s called aerodynamic fairing over it to smooth it all out. It’s usually made of fibreglass, and it’s non structural, non pressurised and has no structural significance whatsoever, none.”

Mr Thomas said the A380 jet was an “amazing aeroplane” with a top-notch safety record and the puncture was likely created by a simple tyre blowout.

“It appears as though they blew a tyre on take off from Dubai and it appears as though some part flew off the tyre and punctured the fuselage,” he said.

“Because it (the plane surface) looks smooth with this aerodynamic fairings, if a bolt or something goes through it, it looks spectacularly dramatic and frightening, but its not. And that speaks to the A380 design.”

The A380 was swiftly repaired after its arrival to Brisbane Airport, with pictures showing the hole patched over by Sunday afternoon.

An Emirates spokesperson said the plane experienced a “technical fault” during cruise and all passengers had safely landed and disembarked on schedule.

“Our flight EK430 flying from Dubai to Brisbane on 1 July experienced a technical fault,” they said.

“One of the aircraft’s 22 tyres ruptured during cruise, causing damage to a small portion of the aerodynamic fairing, which is an outer panel or the skin of the aircraft.”

Emirates on Sunday confirmed the hole had no impact on the structure of the aircraft

“At no point did it have any impact on the fuselage, frame or structure of the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely in Brisbane and all passengers disembarked as scheduled,” the spokesperson said.

“The fairing has been completely replaced, checked and cleared by engineers, Airbus and all relevant authorities. The safety of our passengers and crew has always been our top priority.”

The repaired plane. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The repaired plane at Brisbane Airport. Picture: Steve Pohlner