[DCEite]

Preliminary reports:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/pass...08-03-1.637830


Emirates airline has confirmed an incident occurred at Dubai International Airport involving one of its flights.

"Emirates can confirm that today, 3rd August 2016, flight EK521 travelling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram, India, to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International Airport. There were 275 passengers and crew on board.

"The Boeing 777 aircraft departed at 10.19am from Trivandrum International Airport and was scheduled to land at 12.50pm at Dubai International Airport.



Meanwhile, a Dubai Airports spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement: "Dubai Airports can confirm that Emirates airline flight EK521 arriving from Trivandrum was involved in an incident during landing at Dubai International at 1245pm. Emergency response teams have been activated and all passengers and crew have been safely evacuated. Operations at DXB have been affected with all departing flights delayed until further notice," it said.

"All passengers were evacuated safely and no injuries have been reported so far," Dubai Media Office (DMO) confirmed via social media.

:All departure flights from #Dubai International Airport have been delayed until further notice," DMO said.

"Concerned Authorities at #Dubai International Airport are dealing with the incident at the moment to ensure safety of all," it further tweeted.

[myavu]

Looks horrific There was a fireball explosion too with part of the wing flung into air.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...e/3009660.html

[Zappo]

Eventful day for the aviation world today. In another incident, two Indigo flights earlier in the day nearly hit each other midair over the Guwahati airport. One was coming in to land and the other taking was off! It left 4 passengers and 2 crew members injured.

[shankar.balan]

Absolutely frightening indeed. And we are regular Emirates users.
One of the Best Airlines in the World so far with an enviable record for Quality as well as Safety.
Wonder what they are going to do to reassure passengers in future.
Wonder also what caused this - mechanical fault or Pilot Error.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Absolutely frightening indeed. And we are regular Emirates users.
One of the Best Airlines in the World so far with an enviable record for Quality as well as Safety.
Wonder what they are going to do to reassure passengers in future.
Wonder also what caused this - mechanical fault or Pilot Error.

As per Aviation Herald, the landing gear did not expand on approach, and just before landing the pilot attempted to take off but could not succeed and decided to land without landing gear instead.

Other reports suggest that the plane caught fire on approach.

[Turbanator]

Now why will Emirates not have a local Indian helpline wish we had some better national / private carrier. Unless I am missing something this does speak about their attitude towards Indian travellers. I mean they have set up helpline numbers in US & UK

The main priority remains with those involved and offering support to concerned family and friends. Dedicated telephone lines are now active for friends and family members of affected passengers:

UAE - 8002111
UK - +442034508853
US - 1-877 3502081

The nationalities of passengers and crew on board are:

226 - India
24 - UK


http://www.emirates.com/in/English/

[Ramon]

My wife's cousin and family were on board. They are safe. Awaiting further details.

[arunphilip]

Very sadly, it appears that a fire fighter has lost his life in this incident.

One life lost is one life too many. :-(

Source

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Now why will Emirates not have a local Indian helpline wish we had some better national / private carrier.

There is:

Thiruvananthapuram: 04713377337

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/w...w/53522543.cms

[Scaryskodamenon]

Flying was always considered one of the safest means of travel. With the incident like this, together with the incident of MH370 and MH17, the confidence of frequent fliers like me is getting really shaken. At these trying times, kudos to the crew members of emirates who managed to get all the passengers out safely, before the plane burst into flames.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

Flying was always considered one of the safest means of travel. With the incident like this, together with the incident of MH370 and MH17, the confidence of frequent fliers like me is getting really shaken.

This was a crash landing, and everyone survived. Honestly, if anything, this just proves how safe air travel is. You're more at risk travelling to the airport than you are in the air. So, chill out. It is the dramatic nature of air accidents (and the ensuing media coverage) that make each air accident feel very dramatic and final, while ignoring the numerous other flights that are occurring safely at the same time.

If newspapers started reporting on every fatal road accident, I'm sure we'd be terrified to even start our cars!

A couple of interesting facts about air safety (source):

• To illustrate just how much air safety has improved over the years, consider this: if we had the same accident rate today as in 1973, there would be a fatal crash every other day.
• In this US, you are eight to nine times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident while driving than while flying, and 2.5 - 5 times more likely on your drive to the airport than on the flight! Given that India has a far higher road accident rate, you're better off in a plane!

[Scaryskodamenon]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

In this US, you are eight to nine times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident while driving than while flying, and 2.5 - 5 times more likely on your drive to the airport than on the flight! Given that India has a far higher road accident rate, you're better off in a plane! [/list]

I work as a chief engineer onboard very large gas carriers. Gas carriers have been in service since late 50's and in these 60 odd years there has never been a major accident involving them. But if one is to happen today, the results would be catastrophic as an 82000 cubic gas carrier has many times explosive capacity of a Hiroshima atom bomb. Will we still call gas carriers as safe based on the fact that it was just one accident in so many years. Airlines as well as shipping are run by well laid out guidelines under stringent rules, by competent persons, so that we expect them to perform safely every single time. Hence even one accident has to be taken seriously and each time safety measures have to be revisited to make sure a faultless operation next time when that plane hits the runway or the vessel leaves the port.

It's my humble opinion that, comparing a sampling from road accidents, where morons drive with blatant disregard for rules and safety to a professionally run sector won't do justice.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Scaryskodamenon

It's my humble opinion that, comparing a sampling from road accidents, where morons drive with blatant disregard for rules and safety to a professionally run sector won't do justice.

The comparison is made to put things into perspective. Flying is incredibly safe, no matter how you calculate it. Accidents do get reported and follow up extensively in all mainstream media, so sometimes one might wonder. But those accidents don’t even begin to put a dent into how safe flying is.

Every other mode of transportation, for a multitude of reasons, is less safe.

And let’s face it, we have very often a choice of flying or driving, or taking a train or combination. So comparing the different safety records is perfectly fair. There are reasons, obviously, why there are such differences, but that doesn’t stop us from comparing.

Jeroen

[liferocks]

What matters most is, not a single life lost in this unfortunate event. Sadly a fireman sacrificed his life saving others. Here we must applaud the excellent work done by the cabin crew in evacuating close to 300 people from a smoke filled furnace. That's one hell of a team work. They delivered under immense pressure. Emirates is one of the best airlines in the world, in terms of training and professionalism.


Reason for the accident would be out in a few months hopefully. Most probably it would be a technical/automation glitch. I am sure human error would also be a contributing factor, however minuscule it would be. And it has to be factor since its humans who fly these heavily computerised, automated, complex machines.


While tracking this piece of news, I visited quite a few newspaper websites, forums,social media etc. And the most unfortunate part was the comments from a large percentage of people blaming it on a pilot error. Announcing judgement while sitting on an arm chair, Seriously? Perception, may be. Happy to see our Team-bhp forum is an exception in this regard.


And Folks let me spill out a little secret of aviation world.
"If the pilot is alive, nail him. If he is dead, blame him."


Regards..

[searchingheaven]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Absolutely frightening indeed. And we are regular Emirates users. One of the Best Airlines in the World so far with an enviable record for Quality as well as Safety. Wonder what they are going to do to reassure passengers in future. Wonder also what caused this - mechanical fault or Pilot Error.

Originally Posted by liferocks

What matters most is, not a single life lost in this unfortunate event. Sadly a fireman sacrificed his life saving others. Here we must applaud the excellent work done by the cabin crew in evacuating close to 300 people from a smoke filled furnace. That's one hell of a team work. They delivered under immense pressure. Emirates is one of the best airlines in the world, in terms of training and professionalism.

Cross posting from my 777 Thread, for those who haven't read it.

In most websites, people are speculating about the cause of the crash. I am glad that T-bhp is more considerate towards the aviation community. Believe me when I say this, even as a pilot, I would still hesitate to judge the quality of a colleague's landing even when I am sitting in his plane. I could well say whether his landing was smooth or hard, but I would not dare to say it was good or bad, unless I am inside the cockpit and I am familiar with the plane and the respective procedures.

Also keep in mind that the conditions in the Gulf in summer are extreme, as you see. Last second go around in Dubai with WS is a very high risk scenario. With a prevailing temperature of 49 degrees Celsius and barometric pressure of 0993, both pressure and density altitude are high considering the actual field elevation of 62 ft. Coupled with Wind Shear Alert, conditions were quite adverse. However, please remember that I say this on the basis of the METAR, and as every pilot knows, the METAR gives a hint of what MIGHT have happened, but a METAR can be quite a bit different to the actual conditions which vary within seconds.

So once again, patience is advised, let us wait for crew reports and data readouts. This is not an aircraft that has disappeared in the middle of the ocean. It’s FDR’s are being recovered as we speak and the reasons of this crash will be out in a few days.

Originally Posted by airforce1

I believe wind shear was prevailing at the time of crash. OMDB metar 030900z 11021kt 3000 BLDU NSC 49/07 QNH 0993 WS ALL RWY TEMPO 35015 kt1500 DU. That is weather Dubai winds are from 110 degrees direction at 21 knots with visibility of 3 km blowing dust. No significant cloud was reported and temperatures of 49 degrees.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Oh well, that looks like the first hull loss for emirates? Or is it not? Quite shocking considering they had a good safety record all the while.

Quite a lucky escape there for the passengers. Touching down without gear is something totally amiss here. Even if they were going around, shouldn't they have retracted it later?

Originally Posted by coolboy007

TOGA thrust has immense power but these huge turbo fans do need a few seconds to fully spool up from near idle thrust during landing, it is impossible that the experienced crew put the gear up without even confirming a positive climb rate unless some weather phenomenon like wind shear brought that aircraft down. Yet to see what the weather was like and finer details on what happened, am glad that all passengers and crew escaped unhurt.

Exactly. I will absolutely refuse to believe that the gear was retracted without confirming a positive ROC.

The only thing I am not happy about is the attitude of the passengers after the crash and the subsequent evacuation. People were panicking, trying to take their hand-baggage and luggage etc.

• Most people who encounter an incident like this for the first time are disoriented. They go into shock. They cannot think properly anymore. They know they need to get off the aircraft so they do what they normally do, grab their bag and head for the exit. You wouldn't believe how the human mind can freeze up. The seatbelt demonstration that everyone laughs at? There have been a number of incidents where people survived the impacts but died in the fire because they couldn't get their seatbelt off. Experts recommend buckling and unbuckling your seatbelt a couple times to build some muscle memory if you aren't familiar.
  
  
• Most of the pax on board this aircraft was of an Indian nationality and it's safe to assume their English may not have been good. Also, cabin crew instructions were being shouted in English, most pax probably did not understand.
  
  
• Another point to note, specifically in this scenario, is that most of the people in this flight would have been Indian nationals, whose passport or documents would mean more to them than their life. Here is a tip for everyone: always remember to keep your passport, visa and a govt. issued ID card on yourself at all times, even when going to the washroom. Not in your carry-on, not in your checked in baggage. On you, in the pocket or in a pouch or whatever. Always.

Emirates 777