Emirates superjumbo seriously damaged during maintenance

An accident during a routine check in Dubai left the Airbus A380 with a crushed nose and suspected structural damage

Two incoming flights - from Singapore and Delhi - were diverted away from Dubai International on Sunday. Courtesy: Emirates

The nose of an Airbus A380-861 aircraft registered with Emirates Airline as A6 EOP was seriously damaged on Thursday.

"We confirm there was an incident when our engineering team was performing a routine A check on one of our A380s in the hangar. We are investigating the cause internally," a spokesperson from Emirates told The National.

There were no casualties involved in the incident.

“All our employees are safe and unhurt. Safety is our number one priority, and we follow stringent safety and technical standards," said Emirates.

Emirates regularly tops airline safety lists, and this year was included in the Airline Ratings top 20 for safe airlines.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, the database for the Flight Safety Foundation, the incident occurred when the aircraft's nose slipped off its hydraulic jacks at an Emirates maintenance hangar at the Dubai Airport.

The nose of the plane was crushed during the fall and there was visible damage to the nose-gear and radome.

Emirates is investigating the incident to fully asses the extent of the damage to the plane, which last operated flight EK377 from Bangkok to Dubai last Tuesday.

The nose of an aircraft is designed to minimise aerodynamic drag and it usually also contains other important equipment that pilots must monitor when flying. The A380 uses a nose leg to assist its other four main gear legs during landings.

The Dubai airline operates more than 110 Airbus A380 jets and has 13 more pending delivery. By 2021, the airline will have a total of 123 A380s in fleet.