DUBAI:
Hundreds of passengers escaped after an Emirates flight skidded on a runway and burst into flames at Dubai International Airport.
Thirteen passengers suffered minor injuries when the plane crashed after landing. Firefighter Jassim Essa Al-Baloushi was killed while saving the lives of others.
Flames and thick, black smoke billowed from the stricken Boeing 777 shortly after it came to a stop on the runway. There were no fatalities among the 282 passengers and 18 crew members on board, Emirates said
Flight EK521 traveling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram, India to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International Airport. The majority of those on board were Indian nationals.
The aircraft left Trivandrum International Airport at 10:19 a.m. and was scheduled to land at 12:50 p.m. in Dubai. Once emergency response teams managed to extinguish the fire, it was clear how deadly the accident could have been. The entire top half of the aircraft’s fuselage was missing, with the belly of the plane slumped on the tarmac.
While the cause of the accident is not yet clear, images of the airliner could indicate that the front landing gear collapsed and that the plane slid. That could have sparked the fire.
Maktoum, the Emirates chairman, said he didn’t want to “jump to conclusions” about what happened because the investigation is ongoing.But he said the fire started after the plane landed, and there were no signs of security problems.
The Emirati pilot and the Australian co-pilot have more than 7,000 flying hours between them. Emirates, which began operations in 1985, has never had a fatal accident with any of its aircraft.
Planes such as Emirates’ Boeing 777-300 are designed so that all passengers can escape within 90 seconds.
All flights departing from Dubai International Airport were delayed for several hours, and all incoming flights were being diverted to other airports. By evening, departure flights had resumed.
