Dubai: An Emirates plane crash-landed at Dubai International Airport before exploding into flames. Air traffic control reports showed that Flight EK521 was on its final approach to the airport when it aborted its landing.
However, instead of climbing height to start a new approach, it touched down on the runway and immediately burst into flames. The crew effectively evacuated the plane, saving all 300 people on board. Aviation Expert Anthony Davis said, "It is good that the crew got everybody off the plane but a Boeing 777 has been written off. This just should not happen. It looks to me like this is an issue of not very good airmanship."
Air traffic control recordings cited by Aviation Herald said controllers at Dubai reminded the crew to lower the landing gear as it came into approach. Later, the crew announced they were aborting the landing to "go around", a procedure for which all pilots are trained. Passengers said the equipment did not deploy and the jet landed on its belly. Davis said, "It is a serious incident and we need an investigation to explain what happened. It looks like the pilots retracted the landing gear and we need to know why. There are no signs of the wheels breaking off. When looking at the pictures the plane has belly landed, there are no wheels down. If the gear was down then the plane would have landed nicely. But the plane landed flat on its belly which caused the massive fire." He added, "The question is why was the decision made to 'go around' and when was the decision made to retract the gear?"
The three-hour flight took off from Trivandrum International Airport, India, and the captain is said to have sent out an emergency signal shortly before the plane was to land. A passenger said, "Technically (I have) no idea what happened but while landing something abnormal took place on the runway. We saw smoke inside the aircraft and all the emergency doors were opened. I pulled my daughters and took my travel documents and slid under the slides." Another said the plane "went boom" just seconds after he and other petrified fliers were evacuated. "The engine blew away right after landing. As soon as everyone got out, the plane blew up."
Eye witnesses saw huge plumes of thick, black smoke rising from the plane before it crashed. Dubai International, known to be the world's busiest airport for international travel, shut down for a while with all departure flights delayed until further notice.
