By Nikhil Lohade in Dubai, Robert Wall in London and Andy Pasztor in Los Angeles 

An Emirates Airline plane arriving from India caught fire upon landing in Dubai on Wednesday, resulting in no fatalities on board even as the broken aircraft was left resting on its belly amid plumes of thick black smoke.

Verified video footage showed the plane skidding to a stop on its belly on the runway, with large sections of the fuselage charred and emergency slides deployed. Emirates offered no details about what caused the accident, but there apparently was no mayday call from the cockpit and early signs pointed away from a fire, mechanical problem or security issue during the descent.

Instead, air-safety experts focused on the combination of shifting winds, a relatively heavy aircraft and high midday temperatures that reduce lift as likely important factors. Such restrictions, these experts said, could have made it difficult for the pilots to quickly adjust to possible issues with the landing gear or wind shear, a downdraft or sudden change in wind speed or direction close to the ground, a condition that was reported around arrival time.

Of the 300 people on board the Boeing 777 widebody jetliner arriving from Thiruvananthapuram, India, four passengers were injured, but one firefighter died battling the flames. Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a televised news conference that medical teams handled 13 people with minor injuries.

Swift and effective responses by the aircraft crew and emergency responders prevented fatalities on board, despite extensive damage to the plane. One engine separated from the wing and much of the top half of its fuselage was gutted by fire.

The video footage on social media showed the plane's nose slumped on the tarmac and thick black smoke rising from the aircraft.

The operator of Dubai International Airport, which suspended flights following the incident, said departures resumed some six hours later. It added that the airport, which has two runways, was operating with one strip and arriving flights were being given priority over departures.

Some air-safety experts also said investigators are likely to look into whether the crew may have tried to make last-minute adjustments in their approach or perhaps tried to climb away from the strip--maneuvers that could have been problematic given the conditions.

Based on preliminary information from the carrier, eyewitnesses, passengers and unverified air-traffic control recordings, it wasn't clear why the pilots may have opted to go around for another landing attempt; and whether the crew had retracted the gears trying to gain altitude.

Sheikh Ahmed said that the aircraft may have aborted initial landing due to wind shear. But he said to wait for the full investigation report, declining to speculate on the cause of the accident, including why the landing gear seemed to be retracted. "I don't want to give you something which is not 100% transparent."

He said the pilot, who is from the U.A.E., and his Australian first officer were both highly experienced, with more than 7,000 flying hours in their logbooks.

Emirates Airline Flight 521 departed from Thiruvananthapuram at 10:19 a.m. and was scheduled to land at Dubai International Airport at 12:50 p.m.

The nationalities of those on board included 226 from India, 24 from the U.K., 11 from the U.A.E., and six each from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, Emirates said.

Boeing Co. said in a statement that its team was monitoring the situation in Dubai and would work with Emirates to gather more information.

Emirates is the world's biggest airline by international traffic, using its hub in Dubai to funnel millions of passengers across continents every year.

The last notable incident involving an Emirates plane was in March 2009: An Airbus Group SE A340 hit its tail on takeoff from Melbourne, with no fatalities. Emirates is also the biggest operator of Boeing's 777 aircraft.

The aircraft involved in the accident on Wednesday went into service in 2003 and the inspection checks were up to date, the Emirates chairman said, noting it was serviced on schedule in 2015. The 777 was powered by Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC engines.

If confirmed as a hull loss--an incident that effectively writes off a plane--Wednesday's accident would be the sixth involving a 777, including the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared more than two years ago for reasons that are still unknown and the downing of the same carrier's Flight 17 in 2014 by a Russian-made antiaircraft missile. All passengers and crew on both flights died.

The crash probe will be led by U.A.E. authorities. Typically, such a probe would be assisted by the plane maker. The involvement of a Boeing plane means the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also is likely to assist the investigation.

"Our investigators are working closely with Emirates Airline and Dubai Airport to establish the cause of this accident," the U.A.E.'s General Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

Despite the accident, there were no major disruptions to passenger flow at the departures lounge of the Emirates terminal of Dubai. Check-in counters were open, and passengers proceeded through security as usual.

In late June, a Boeing 777 operated by Singapore Airlines Ltd. burst into flames after landing at Singapore's Changi Airport, badly damaging the plane but not resulting in any injuries. Videos showed flames spreading along one of the wings, before firefighters put out the blaze. Investigators determined that problems with an oil-cooling system led to the fire and that a safety bulletin previously issued by engine maker General Electric Co. identifying the issue and recommending a fix hadn't been implemented quickly enough.

Asa Fitch and Margherita Stancati contributed to this article.

Write to Nikhil Lohade at Nikhil.Lohade@wsj.com, Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com and Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2016 02:56 ET (06:56 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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