SriLankan flies shy of ‘emergency’

SriLankan Airlines has responded to our report last week about the emergency landing of its flight in Kunming: “The flight that was referred to never ‘made’ an emergency landing, but ‘landed safely’ without any emergency being declared,” it says taking umbrage under technical jargon.

The letter says, “The facts are as follows. On 7th November, Flight UL 829 was on its approach to land at Kunming International Airport in China. The landing was discontinued due to the flaps not extending to the correct landing position. The aircraft was reconfigured after completing the relevant checklists and then landed safely as per the flight crew operating manual instructions, without any incident. At no time did the crew declare an emergency, nor was there any reason to do so.”

Note by Jamis Banda: SriLankan Airlines confirms all the facts reported in story. However, it seems to be splitting hairs over “no emergency landing” and “landing safely.” When an integral part of an aircraft is malfunctioning, the question is whether it is an emergency or not. Should one wait till it is declared an “emergency?” And no word about the aircraft having to be ferried back to Colombo without passengers. Suppose that is not an emergency either.

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