On Sunday 21 October, an Emirates (EK) Airbus A330-200 (MCN 525 |A6-EAP) plying the Lusaka - Dubai route as flight EK714, suffered an uncontained port engine failure, 30 minutes into its flight. The crew promptly shut down the engine and opted to return to Lusaka for a safe landing, contrary to early sensational news reports out of Zambia which claimed "the plane had a tyre burst and slipped into the bush, receiving considerable damage."
According to a passenger's account on The Aviation Herald:
Source [The Aviation Herald]"...they were enroute at FL320 about 33 minutes into the flight when the left hand engine emitted a loud bang, some smoke and fumes appeared temporarily in the cabin, sparks were visible from the left hand engine, the cowling of which sustained two large holes inboard.
A6-EAP parked in Lusaka (LusakaTimes) Upon disembarking the passenger saw two large holes at the outboard cowling of the left hand engine as well. Ground personnel at Lusaka hinted that a new engine was to be flown into Lusaka. The passenger said, flight and cabin crew were excellent."
According to Emirates, the aircraft landed normally, taxied to the stand where passengers
disembarked in the usual way. They were then accommodated in hotels
and have now been re-booked on alternative flights with Emirates or
other airlines.
As of this writing, the aircraft is still on the ground at Lusaka International, awaiting a replacement Rolls Royce Trent 772B-60 engine before being ferried back to Dubai.
