Passenger claims A380's emergency exit door 'came ajar' on Emirates Airline flight

Emirates Airline has refuted claims that an emergency exit blew open mid-air on an Airbus A380 flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong. 

A passenger reportedly said that an aircraft door came ajar at 27,000ft on flight EK384 on Monday, February 11.

Brit tourist David Reid told the UK’s Daily Mail on Friday that freezing air blasted into the jumbo jet and the cabin pressure plunged after the exit in business class opened nearly 4cm.

However, an Emirates spokesperson told 7DAYS: “At no time during the flight did one of the upper deck doors open.

“There was also no loss in cabin pressurisation at any time during the flight.”

The Dubai carrier confirmed that there was a “whistling noise emanating from one of the doors on the A380 upper deck” but said the sound from the door was caused by “a small dimensional difference between the inflated door seal and the door lower frame striker plate when the door is in the closed position.”

The spokesperson added: “This is currently under investigation in conjunction with Airbus. Emirates have now fixed the problem.”

Reid claimed cabin crew started grabbing blankets and pillows, which they stuck together with duct tape to fill the gap, and said a green light indicated the door was open.

In response, the airline said: “The blankets were placed around the door to abate the whistling sound emanating from the door, not to prevent the door from opening.

“There was no point during the incident where the safety of the flight was in jeopardy. In addition, the green light next to the door does not represent that the door is open. It is an attendant indication panel and is used for communication information for the cabin crew.

“The safety of our passengers and crew remains our number one priority and we work very closely with the manufacturer to ensure this.”

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