In the messages he stresses that there were no fatalities, and the priority of the government is to ensure safety of the passengers and crew, and establish contact with their families and friends.
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According to the New York Times, Emirates confirmed “all passengers and crew are accounted for and safe”.
The aircraft left Trivandrum International Airport at 10:19 a.m. and was scheduled to land at 12:50 p.m.in Dubai.
A man waiting for relatives on the flight said he had spoken to them by phone.
According to the airline, 20 nationalities were represented among the flight’s passengers and crew – 226 Indian nationals, 24 Brits, 11 Emiratis, six US citizens and six Saudis.
Iype Vallikadan, one of the passengers, said the pilot announced as the plane neared Dubai that there was a problem with the landing gear and that he would make an emergency landing, the Associated Press reported.
Emirates, which began operations in 1985, has never had a fatal accident with any of its aircraft. The plane which was involved in the accident was 13 years old. It appears the Dubai International Airport is now slowly resuming operations.
“Two of our flights have been affected owing to the runway closure at Dubai airport”, Budget carrier SpiceJet said in a statement. Some inbound flights were diverted to other regional airports.
Although the 777 was destroyed in the accident, Emirates says that all passengers and crew evacuated safely. Authorities said all passengers were evacuated safely. Reuters spoke to one unnamed man waiting for his relatives: “They said they’re safe and alright, but that they felt a great panic as the plane was on fire”.
It is the first time an aircraft operated by Emirates appears to have been damaged beyond fix since it was founded in the 1980s and is only its third serious safety incident. He said the crash-landing was not caused by any security breach.
Shaji, one of the passengers, said he along with his three children and wife had a narrow escape.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes”. They have emergency plans in place. “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.
Footage on social media showed smoke billowing from the aircraft. “As we were landing there was smoke coming out in the cabin”, passenger Sharon Maryam Sharji said.
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.
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In Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3, the home of Emirates, the typically bustling arrivals hall was hushed.
