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.
Sheikh Ahmed declined 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 over 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 03, 2016 18:50 ET (22:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024