Stranded passengers have slammed Etihad’s customer service after a flight to Abu Dhabi came to a sudden stop, seconds before take off.
The pilot’s urgent actions shredded two tyres and blocked one of Melbourne Airport’s runways for more than 12 hours.
Moments after the pilot pumped the brakes, the Boeing Dreamliner was doused in firefighting foam last night.
Passenger Ohad Shemtov said it was “the most terrifying moment in my life”.
“We were sure we were about to die,” he said.
Etihad flight EY46 .was leaving Melbourne en route to Abu Dhabi with 289 passengers on board just before 7pm yesterday.
Travelling at high speed the pilot spotted a warning light and aborted the take off with seconds to spare.
The pressure popped two of the 787’s tyres, stopping the jet, in the middle of the runway.
“It seems we may have some problem with the gear,” an Air Traffic Control recording says.
Flat tyres meant the plane couldn’t be towed, so it sat blocking one of Melbourne’s two runways for more than 12 hours.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was travelling close to 300km/h, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24, before it aborted take off.
The airport’s website showed three cancelled arrivals and three departures between 7pm and midnight.
Every customer had to be offloaded bused back to the terminal and sent to hotels, which they say took hours.
“Why for an emergency stop does it take you 2.5 hours to get off a plane? When they knew the tyres were knackered,” Alan said.
The wait continued at the baggage carousel.
Passengers were told to be there around 9.30am to collect their bags and check them into new flights, but it took almost two hours extra for them to start coming through.
“The service from Etihad is disgusting,” John said.
“You can’t get them on the phone, they’re not listening to how you’re getting home.”
The airline is adamant customer safety and comfort is the highest priority, and while most now have a plan B sorted, patience has been tested.
Etihad said the flight crew decided to halt the take off for “technical reasons”.
“The aircraft was safely brought to a stop on the runway and emergency services attended as a precaution,” the airline said.
“Guests have been disembarked safely and our teams are working to enable them to continue their onward journeys as quickly as possible.
“Etihad Airways sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused. The safety and comfort of our guests and crew remain our highest priority.”
Etihad said applying foam to the tyres was “a routine precaution following a high-speed rejected take-off”.
