Lufthansa B777

A Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777-200 freighter returned back to Frankfurt after the crew declared Mayday due to unreliable airspeed. The crew reported an altitude issue.

Lufthansa 777-9

The Luftansa Cargo Boeing 777F, with registration D-ALFG, was operating flight GEC-8402 from Frankfurt Airport, Germany to Shanghai Pudong International, China. The crew declared Mayday, reporting unreliable airspeed, when the aircraft was in the initial climb out of Frankfurt.

Lufthansa 777 Business Class

After that, the crew inquired altitude reading with the Frankfurt ATC. The traffic controller responded that the altitude was 200 feet. However, the crew reported that their standby altimeter was indicating 6100 feet.

Lufthansa B777x

• The Boeing 777-300ER sets new standards in travel experience and comfort.
• Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8402, a Boeing 777-F, returned to land at Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), Germany after the cockpit crew noticed unreliable airspeed indicator readings. Prior to the departure on October 10, 2020, various scheduled maintenance tasks had been performed on the aircraft.

The crew also reported that they should be at around 6200 feet after the GPS reading indicated the altitude.

Lufthansa is set to be the European launch partner of the new Boeing 777-9 (both the 777-8 and 777-9 are referred to as the 777X program). The 777X is the latest and greatest Boeing aircraft and will be its passenger airframe available since the decline of orders for the Boeing 747 (although a comeback isn’t ruled out).

Subsequently, the crew decided to return back to Frankfurt and requested to dump fuel. The aircraft ten started to dump fuel and returned back to its hub. The aircraft made a safe landing some 65 minutes after departure.

According to ADS-B data transmitted by the freighter, the aircraft did not climb above 250 feet throughout its entire flight.

Feature Image: “Lufthansa Cargo”