Latest News. Dubai Crashlanding Emirates Plane

-

Emirates plane bursts into flames after crash-landing at Dubai airport

By South Asia correspondent James Bennett  an hour ago


Hundreds of passengers have fled an Emirates airliner that crash-landed and caught fire in Dubai, resulting in the death of a firefighter and a four-hour shutdown of the busy airport but no other fatalities.

Key points:

  • All 300 passengers and crew evacuated safely from aircraft
  • One firefighter killed while battling flames
  • Emirates says "operational incident" to blame
  • Passenger says there was a "very hard landing"
All 282 passengers and 18 crew, including two Australians, on the Boeing 777 from India were "accounted for and safe", the airline said. Thirteen passengers were hospitalised, most for minor injuries.
But Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said one firefighter died during efforts to douse the flames.
Sheikh Ahmed said the co-pilot was an Australian with about 7,000 hours of flying experience.
He said the crash was not security-related.
Photos posted on social media showed a thick black plume of smoke rising from the top of a burning plane, while the fuselage appeared to be lying on the runway with escape slides opened

'There was smoke coming out in the cabin'

Emirates plane on fire in Dubai
PHOTO: Dubai International Airport from India. (Twitter: @apaspo1957)
Passenger Sharon Maryam Sharji said it was a "really terrifying" experience.
"As we were landing there was smoke coming out in the cabin.
"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."
Passenger Shadi Kochuktty said: "While landing I think the engine or something burned so the smoke was coming inside so immediately they asked us to evacuate."
A man waiting for relatives who were on the flight said he had spoken to them by phone.
"They said they're safe and alright, but that they felt a great panic as the plane was on fire," he said.
Another man said his family had also told him they were OK and there had been a problem with the landing 
 Source:ABC News

Comments

Post a Comment