Three hundred people, mostly Indians, had a miraculous escape on Wednesday when a packed Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai crash-landed and exploded on the runway here, shutting down one of the world's busiest airports and killing one of the firefighters.
Emirates confirmed that flight EK521 with 282 passengers and 18 crew members on board was involved in an accident at Dubai international airport. The airline said there were 226 Indians aboard the Boeing 777-300.
"We can confirm that there are no fatalities among our passengers and crew. All passengers and crew are accounted for and safe," the airline said in statement.
However, a firefighter died while saving the lives of others, said the General Civil Aviation Authority.
The UAE government's media office said that flights would resume at 18.30 local (8.00 pm IST), with priority given to larger aircraft.
Around 10 passengers were treated for smoke inhalation and burn injuries at a hospital after the accident. Only one person was admitted for long-term treatment, local media said.
The flight departed at 10.19 am from ThiruvananthapuramInternationalAirport and was scheduled to land at 12.50 pm at DubaiInternationalAirport.
Among the 282 passengers, seven infants were also travelling, ThiruvananthapuramAirport director George Tharakkan told PTI.
The flight had two Indian crew members on board, he said. There were a total of 74 foreigners on board including 24 from the UK, 11 from the UAE and six each from the US and Saudi Arabia.
There were no official word for the cause of the accident, but media reports said the landing gear collapsed and the plane slid and exploded.
The incident was the most serious to date for Emirates, it being the only loss for the airline since it started operations in 1985. The plane which was involved in the accident was 13 years old.
Meanwhile, Dubai airport authorities suspended all operations after the Emirates flight accident.
A total of 21 flights, including two to India, departing from Dubai were cancelled as a result of the incident. Some inbound flights were diverted to other regional airports.
"Emergency response teams at DubaiAirport have fully extinguished the fire on the Emirates plane. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated," the Dubai media office tweeted after the accident.
Video footage showed smoke billowing out of the Boeing 777 after the accident.
Sai Bhaskar, a passenger on the flight, said most of the those travelling in the plane were from Kerala.
There was no problem during the flight, Bhaskar said.
"There was no announcement about any technical snag. We felt as if the flight first landed, went up again and hit the ground. When smoke engulfed the flight, we realised there was something amiss and we felt there was some danger," he said.
"It was difficult to open the emergency exit at first," Bhaskar said, adding that if they had been stranded inside the aircraft even for a minute more, there would have been a tragedy.
"People have inhaled smoke. Those who left the plane early might not have. But those who went out later have inhaled smoke," another passenger said.
Another passenger said the jet's engine blew as soon as crash-landed.
Shaji, one of the passengers, said he along with his three children and wife had a narrow escape.
When the flight was about to land they heard a sound and there was smoke all over. Immediately, all the emergency exits were opened and everyone was asked to quickly move to the exit doors, he said.
"One by one all of us escaped. My wife and me suffered minor injuries," he added.
"I couldn't believe my eyes. I was absolutely horrified," Sarah-Louise Sherwood, an eyewitness, told the BBC.
Some of the passengers were injured while trying to jump from the emergency exit, Bhaskar said.
"The slides came out but they were blowing all over the place. People managed to escape -- from what I saw -- before there was a big explosion, with flames everywhere. We had taxied and stopped right next to where it was happening and people in my plane were just saying 'oh my god' and 'get us off this plane'," she said.
No cause has so far been established for the crash, but images shared on social media suggest a belly landing, which occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended, using its underside to come to a halt.
Emirates said that its main priority remains with those involved and offering support to concerned family and friends.
Dedicated telephone lines had also been activated for family members -- UAE -- 8002111, UK -- 00442034508853 and the US -- 0018113502081.
Ismail Abdel Wahed, executive director of Air Accident Investigations at the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, said the investigators will examine the scene and collect the necessary information including the black box data.
According to CNN, Dubai-based Emirates is the largest airline in the world by available seat kilometres, while Dubai is now the busiest international airport for passengers.
Emirates is also the biggest operator of Boeing 777. It flies 157 of them to 109 destinations worldwide.
Photographs: Twitter
