Emirates plane bursts into flames on emergency landing at Dubai International Airport
A PASSENGER on the Emirates plane that crash landed in Dubai has described her horror over the moment the plane burst into flames.
Travel Incidents
Don't miss out on the headlines from Travel Incidents. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A PASSENGER on the Emirates plane that crash landed in Dubai has described her horror over the moment the plane burst into flames.
“It was actually really terrifying. As we were landing there was smoke coming out in the cabin,” passenger Sharon Maryam Sharji tol AAP.
“People were screaming and we had a very hard landing. We left by going down the emergency slides and as we were leaving on the runway we could see the whole plane catch fire. It was horrifying.”
It comes as dramatic footage has emerged from inside an Emirates plane that crash landed and burst into flames in Dubai with two Australians on board.
It’s not yet known if two Australians were among the fourteen people hospitalised.
The footage was captured by a passenger on board who posted it on Twitter crediting the “brave cabin crew,” including an Australian co-pilot. Minutes after the video, the plane reportedly exploded, killing one firefighter on the scene.
Chaos ensued on the plane as passengers can be heard screaming while the cabin crew opens the emergency exit doors. Passengers can be heard yelling “Jump! Jump! Jump!”
With oxygen masks down, smoke fills the plane as passengers hurriedly grabbed their luggage.
Bodies massed together in a rush to evacuate the panic. As the camera pans, passengers are seen running through aisles towards the emergency exit.
As the woman holding the camera flies down the inflatable slide, flames from the burning engine can be seen in the background.
Evacuation video of #Emirates #EK521 from crash landing #Dubai #Airport this afternoon. Brave #CabinCrew pic.twitter.com/kEZuFh2aa6
— Rehan Quereshi (@rehanquereshi) August 3, 2016
The passengers and crew included 226 Indians, 24 British people and 11 Emirates, the airline said.
Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said one firefighter, Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan, died during efforts to douse the flames.
Sheik Ahmed said the co-pilot was an Australian with about 7000 hours of flying experience.
Passengers evacuated from the flight said that minutes before the flight crash-landed, the pilot made an announcement that he needed to make an emergency landing.
No cause has so far been established for the crash.
This Emirates flight burst into flames after a crash landing in Dubai.
— Shukur Biya (@Shuk_bi) August 3, 2016
All 300 people on board are reportedly saf… https://t.co/femwfh1BSU
The cabin crew opened all the emergency exits of the plane and all 300 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were evacuated within minutes of the landing.
A spokesman for the airline said: “Emirates can confirm that today, 3rd August 2016, flight EK521 travelling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram, India to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International Airport. There were 282 passengers and 18 crew on board.
“Our main priority at this time is the safety and wellbeing of all involved and full co-operation is being extended to the authorities and emergency services managing the situation.”
The area has been cordoned off and it is understood all passengers were escorted from the flight.
Emirates later said “all passengers and crew are accounted for and safe”.
Dubai airport flights have since resumed.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement urging travellers to Dubai to check with their airline for details on delays and when normal flight schedules will resume.
Flights from Sydney to Dubai, which included the codeshared Emirates EK413 and Qantas flight QF8413, were cancelled on Wednesday night. The flights had been due to depart at 9.10pm.
The Aviation Herald reported that the Boeing 777-300, “suffered a collapse of the landing gear and burst into flames” as it landed on Dubai’s runway 12L.
From cockpit, #livefeed #DXB crash landing. #Dubai #dubaiairport #live ... pic.twitter.com/OG3RfN6Cdm
— Hayen Ayari (@HayenAyari) August 3, 2016
At least one engine seem to have come of after landing-accident #777 @emirates at #DXB #DubaiInternational. pic.twitter.com/fATOarfRS2
— Dave Abspoel (@DABNOS) August 3, 2016
Fire under control #Dxb #dubaiairport pic.twitter.com/ugRZpV22nm
— Krishna Bhagavathula (@kbhagava) August 3, 2016
Emirates aircraft, EK521, was flying from Thiruvananthapuram, India, to Dubai when it made an emergency landing, Dubai airport sources told Gulf News. Hundreds of thousands of residents from the southern Indian state of Kerala — Thiruvananthapuram is the capital city — work in the Gulf countries.
Krishna Bhagavathula, who was at the airport, wrote on Twitter that the flames had burned through the top of the aircraft before being brought under control.
A spokesman for the Dubai media office, which represents the Emirate’s government, said flight EK521 was arriving on schedule from India when it “crash-landed”.
“Authorities at Dubai International Airport are dealing with the incident at the moment to ensure safety of all,” the statement said.
The accident comes almost four months after a plane belonging to Dubai’s other carrier, flydubai, crashed and burst into flames as it was landing in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia, killing all 61 people on-board.
On July 26, an Emirates Boeing 777-300 aircraft heading to the Maldives made an emergency landing in Mumbai because of a “technical fault”.
In 2009, an Emirates A340 taking off from Melbourne struck several structures at the end of the runway before climbing high enough to return for a safe landing.
An incorrect take off was blamed and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau declared it an “accident”.
Airline Ratings ranks Emirates among the world’s safest carriers, with a seven star rating. It is the largest single operator of the Boeing 777, together with the Airbus A380 superjumbo, and has a fleet of 250 aircraft.
The Boeing 777 has a very good safety record although recent incidents have raised suggestions the model may be cursed.
Malaysia Airlines’ MH370 was a Boeing 777-200ER, as was the MH17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
Last year a British Airways Boeing 777-200 dramatically caught fire on the runway of McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas forcing passengers to run for their lives.
But prior to Malaysia Airlines’ 2014 twin disasters, the 777 had a solid safety record.
The only incidents involving 777-300s have been relatively minor and with no injury or loss of life.
Bizarre last moments of missing Aussie mum
Authorities have revealed the mysterious timeline of a missing Aussie mum’s movements in Mexico before her daughter was found abandoned.
Four dead in Mother’s Day horror
Four people have died in multiple crashes across Queensland on Mother’s day, marking a horror weekend on our roads.