Emirates Freighter EK9648 Aborts Its Amsterdam Landing Over a Left Main Gear Warning, Then Lands on Another Runway

Emirates SkyCargo flight EK9648, a Boeing 777 freighter flying from Nairobi to Amsterdam, broke off its approach to Schiphol on Thursday morning, October 8, 2026, after the crew got an indication that the left main landing gear disagreed with its expected position. The jet, registered A6-EFO, landed safely on a different runway about 25 minutes later.

The incident was reported by The Aviation Herald, which said the crew went around from about 1,300 feet above the ground on final for runway 06. The flight was a cargo service.

What the flight track shows

FlightAware’s track log shows the freighter leaving Nairobi at 2:10 a.m. local time and lining up from the southwest on Amsterdam Schiphol‘s 06 approach, the long Kaagbaan runway. Its recorded altitude bottomed out at about 1,450 feet before it climbed away to roughly 2,000 feet.

The crew then flew a wide circuit east of the airport, came back around from the south and landed on runway 36C, the Zwanenburgbaan, at 9:50 a.m. local time. According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft stopped clear of the runway and was towed to the apron rather than taxiing in.

A6-EFO had not flown again by Saturday evening, according to its FlightAware history, more than two days after landing. At the time of writing, no statement from Emirates or the Dutch authorities on the cause, or on whether the gear was actually out of position, could be found.

What a gear disagree warning means

A gear disagree indication means the cockpit’s position sensors do not agree with where the gear lever says the wheels should be. On approach, with the lever down, it means at least one leg is not indicating down and locked.

That alone does not tell the crew whether the gear is actually up, partly down or fully down with a faulty sensor. Breaking off the approach gives the crew height and time to work the problem, and the go-around in itself is not a sign that anything worse happened.

Eurocontrol’s SKYbrary safety guidance lists what controllers should expect next: a request for time or a holding pattern, an alternate or manual gear extension, possibly one or more low passes for a visual check, and rescue services on standby. It also warns that controllers must not certify the gear as down and locked from the tower.

EK9648 landed without further incident on its second approach. An American Airlines 777 diverted to New York with the opposite problem, gear that would not retract after takeoff.

The Amsterdam leg ended a multi-stop 777 freighter rotation from Emirates SkyCargo’s Al Maktoum hub in Dubai. FlightAware shows A6-EFO flew Dubai to Lagos, Accra and Nairobi in the day before it headed for Schiphol.