Yesterday, Emirates Engineering announced that it has successfully replaced the entire landing gear of one of its A380s.
The change involved replacing all five sets of landing gear, comprising 22 wheels, gear extension and retraction systems, braking and steering controls and monitoring systems. There is a landing gear set under each wing, two under the body of the aircraft and the final set is located under the nose. This is the first of Emirates’ A380s to have a complete landing gear change in one go.
Watch the replacement happen in the video below:
Video: Emirates
The project was planned and completed in Dubai in Emirates Engineering’s own hangars with input from Airbus, Field International, UTAS and Safran. The work took a total of 14 days to complete.
According to Flight Global, this A380 is the oldest in Emirates’ fleet at 12-years-old, however, it has recorded fewer hours than some of the 102 other A380s currently in the fleet. Two more Emirates Airbus A380s are scheduled to have complete landing gear replacements this year. Emirates reports that the landing gear on their A380s can support around 570 tonnes on take-off and more than 390 tonnes on landing.
Mohammad Jaffar Nasser, Emirates Senior Vice President, Engineering Maintenance described the project as “an important milestone,” adding that the landing gear replacement “and other similar achievements by the Emirates Engineering team reflects the degree of planning, preparation and expertise that go behind the successful execution of complex projects such as this one.” He also announced that Emirates Engineering is to extend its services to third party airlines in order to “share our expertise and enhance engineering procedures globally.”
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