Passengers onboard a 
Delta Air Lines flight between Shanghai and Detroit ended up in Japan after the Airbus A350-900 operating the flight encountered a hydraulic issue. The captain, out of an abundance of caution, declared an emergency landing and closed the runway at 
Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) for some time after its arrival.
The flight, first reported by AvHerald, noted the flight operating as Delta Flight 388, had departed from Shanghai on Friday, November 28, and was just 140 nautical miles (259 km) north of Tokyo when the crew opted to divert. The aircraft was met by emergency teams on the ground as soon as it touched down in the Japanese capital city.
Stranded In Japan
Delta Air Lines operates a daily non-stop flight between 
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and 
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). The service, which usually takes 13 hours gate to gate, has a scheduled departure time of 17:30, arriving in Detroit at 18:05 the same day. On November 28, the aircraft had pushed back from the gate at 17:46 to travel Northeast towards the United States.
As the flight had just passed over Japan, the flight crew identified a hydraulic issue, which led to the cautious decision to divert to the closest major airport. The crew declared an emergency landing relating to a hydraulic system problem, and 30 minutes later, they landed safely on Runway 34R at Haneda. Simple Flying reached out to Delta Air Lines for comment and received this response from their spokesperson:
“On Nov. 28, the crew of Delta flight 388 followed procedures to divert to Tokyo-Haneda after reporting a mechanical issue while en route from Shanghai to Detroit. The aircraft landed safely, and we apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel plans. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew.”
Aircraft Remained In Japan Overnight
As already mentioned, the A350 was greeted by emergency services near the runway as it touched down at Henada. The runway remained closed for approximately 30 minutes following the aircraft’s arrival before being towed to the gate. Subsequently, the rest of the flight was canceled.
Data from Flightradar24 show that the aircraft in question, a seven-year-old A350-900, registration N512DN, remained on the apron overnight before being repositioned to 
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The aircraft departed from Haneda as DL9888 on November 29, departing at 23:14, and arriving in SEA at 14:26. A corresponding service under the same flight number was then added to Detroit, arriving at 23:02 that same day.
The aircraft has since returned to regular service, having traveled from Detroit to Seoul on November 30, and at the time of writing, will operate DL26 from Seoul to Atlanta this evening (December 1).
A sudden loss of power mid-flight forces an emergency landing. What went wrong on this international journey?
N512DN Aircraft Details
The aircraft at the center of this drama is configured in a three-class layout, including 32 Business, 48 Premium Economy, and 226 economy class seats. Specific data below as per ch-aviation:
|
Registration |
N512DN |
|---|---|
|
Serial Number (MSN) |
267 |
|
First Flight Date |
December 12, 2018 |
|
French Airbus Test Registration |
F-WZGE |
|
Delivery Date |
January 26, 2019 |
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines, the aircraft was delivered to Delta in January 2019, where it has operated a range of the airline’s long-haul services. The aircraft is one of 38 A350-900 in operation for the carrier, with another six on order. Delta will also welcome the larger A350-1000, which is set to arrive in 2026.
Hydraulic issues on the Airbus A350 are rare and can relate to uncommanded flight surface movements (where the plane could move suddenly without human intervention). This leads airlines to take a cautious approach to address the safety risks, and therefore resulted in the right move by the crew to divert to Japan for further inspection.
