A major tragedy was averted on Wednesday after the Emirates Airlines EK 521 from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai with 300 people on board crash-landed at the Dubai International Airport. The airline confirmed that the 282 passengers and 18 crew members are safe.
The Emirates Boeing 777-300 A6-EMW made an emergency landing at the airport, after which flights to and from the airport were suspended. Thick smoke was seen billowing out of the aircraft on the tarmac. Firefighters rushed to the spot after the flight landed.
"We can confirm that there are no fatalities among our passengers and crew. All passengers and crew are accounted for and safe," Emirates Airline said in a tweet.
Videos of the event surfaced on social media showing the right engine of the aircraft dislodging from the wing as the plane drags on the tarmac. The airline reportedly acted swiftly and evacuated the passengers inside the aircraft.
Not only did the event keep the Twitterati aflutter, it also prompted them to post wishes and appreciation for the airlines for preventing a major disaster from taking place.
After seeing the video it's so hard for me to believe everyone's fine. Miracles happen sometimes and it made me so happy. #Emirates
— bruna (@smolderhes) August 3, 2016
90 seconds & 275 passengers evacuated.....bravo ! #dubaiairport @emirates — Ruchi Sharma (@tweetruche) August 3, 2016
Kudos @emirates for safely evacuating the 275 pax and crew after such a crash #EK521. End of the day human life 's what that matters!
— Santhosh Prabhu (@santhosh3186) August 3, 2016
Proud of Emirates team doing an amazing job of keeping everyone safe and well informed #EK521 @emirates https://t.co/sXcH2NrqrW — JPd Agency (@jamespassdesign) August 3, 2016
Brilliant crisis management from @emirates in the wake of the #EK521 incident. @John1Williamson https://t.co/NXg9DVZXgD
— Mahassen Haddara (@MahassenHaddara) August 3, 2016
#Emirates I seriously hope the cabin crew all get bonuses for this one. 90 second evacuation, no casualties. Nice work!! — Fred Bredenkamp (@87fredster87) August 3, 2016
Credits for the well trained crew of #Emirates and @DubaiAirports authorities for the amazing job they did evacuating all pax safely. #dubai
— Noureddine Taleb (@Jazairi) August 3, 2016