Crash Landing of Emirates Flight with 282 passengers

Dubai: Around 300 people, mostly Indians, avoided a close call yesterday when a packed Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai crashlanded and caught fire at the Dubai airport. Authorities said that all on board were evacuated safely. However, it was later confirmed that one firefighter was killed while tackling the blaze. An investigation has now been launched to determine if it was a faulty landing gear that lead to the mishap.

Emirates confirmed that flight EK521, a Boeing 777-300, with 282 passengers — of which 226 were Indians — and 18 crewmembers, was involved in an accident at the Dubai international airport. The airline’s chair and chief executive, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said: "We pay tribute to the firefighter who lost his life fighting the blaze. We thank all teams that dealt with the incident."

Among the 282 passengers, seven infants were also travelling in the flight, said Thiruvananthapuram Airport director George Tharakkan. There were a total of 74 foreigners on board the flight including 24 from the UK, 11 from the UAE and six each from the US and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Dubai airport authorities suspended all operations after the accident.

Sai Bhaskar, a passenger on the flight, said there was no problem during the flight. "There was no announcement about any technical snag. It was when smoke engulfed the flight that we realised something was amiss and this was a dangerous situation," he said. "It was difficult to open the emergency exit," Bhaskar said. Some of the passengers were reportedly injured while trying to jump from the emergency exit.

While the cause of the accident is not yet clear, pictures of the airliner indicated that the front landing gear collapsed and the plane slid.