“In the wake of the Emirates aircraft crash-landing at Dubai airport yesterday and in accordance with the instructions from the Dubai Airport Authorities, all our flights to and from Dubai scheduled for today have been cancelled”, SpiceJet said in a statement.
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All passengers and crew were evacuated safely but an Emirati firefighter died while putting out the blaze.
After Emirates EK521 crash-landed, a number of the Dubai carrier’s flights were either cancelled or diverted to other airports, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
All IndiGo passengers are requested to check their respective flight status via customer relations or Twitter/Facebook or the airline’s web portal, it said.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300 registration A6-EMW powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines, was travelling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai.
Video posted online showed smoke billowing from what looked like an Emirates jetliner lying on its belly on the runway.
“One cabin crew member was hospitalised yesterday, but is in good condition and will be discharged from a local hospital today”, the statement said. Dubai International Airport gradually started to resume operations at approximately 1830hrs local time last night.
Meanwhile, the operations at the Dubai International Airport remained disrupted with delays and flight cancellations persisting. After the incident, Dubai International Airport was closed for about six hours.
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However, the airline refused for a second day to provide details on what caused the crash and what the circumstances were immediately before it hit the ground. Emirates Airline has confirmed that the accident was not caused by a security breach and authorities are now investigating whether mechanical or pilot error played a role in what happened. There were 226 Indian citizens on board the flight, as well as 24 United Kingdom nationals and 11 UAE nationals. Unconfirmed reports suggest there was a problem with its landing gear. There also were reports of wind shear, a sudden downdraft encountered by aircraft that can be risky, especially for planes near the ground. American and British investigators will participate in the probe because the Boeing plane was built in the US and was powered by British-made Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. It referred queries on the investigation to the UAE GCAA. A spokeswoman for the leasing company, Gillian Culhane, declined to comment.
