Emirates A380 dipped below 400ft as crew mistakenly chased glideslope

Investigators have determined that an Emirates Airbus A380 descended far below the glideslope at Moscow Domodedovo after its crew entered a rapid descent, erroneously believing the jet was too high for the correct approach path. It descended to 504ft above ground – with a rate of descent of 1,600ft/min – while still some 7.4nm from the threshold of runway 14R, in darkness, before the crew executed a go-around. The A380 lost a further 109ft, dipping to just 395ft, before climbing away, the aircraft’s ground-proximity warning system having sounded ‘terrain’ and ‘pull up’ alerts. Analysis from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority found that the aircraft had effectively been descending in pursuit of an imaginary glideslope after the crew’s instruments indicated the A380 was above the correct descent path. <br/>