**Emirates flight crash-lands in Dubai; all 300 aboard survive, firefighter killed**
DUBAI — An Emirates airliner arriving from India crash-landed at Dubai International Airport on Wednesday, sending a plume of smoke over the runway as flames engulfed the aircraft. All 300 people on board survived. One firefighter died while battling the blaze.
Flight EK521, a Boeing 777 operating from Thiruvananthapuram in southern India, came down at about 12:45 p.m. local time. Emirates said the 282 passengers and 18 crew members were safely accounted for after an evacuation that witnesses and officials said was completed within minutes.
Emirates Group Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said 10 people were hospitalized. He confirmed there were no fatalities among passengers or crew. “Thankfully there were no fatalities among our passengers and crew,” he said. “Our thoughts are with everyone involved.”
The firefighter died while responding to the fire that broke out after the aircraft came to rest on the runway. Social media images showed the jet ablaze, with thick smoke rising from the site. The airport, one of the world’s busiest, halted operations for about six hours. Flights resumed shortly before 7 p.m. local time. Other arrivals and departures faced delays of roughly six hours.
Passenger Iype Vallikadan told the Associated Press that the pilot had informed the cabin of a landing-gear problem on approach and that an emergency landing would be made. After touchdown, cabin crew opened the emergency exits and passengers left by the slides.
Emirates said those on board included 226 Indian nationals, 24 from Britain, 11 from the United Arab Emirates, six each from the United States and Saudi Arabia, five from Turkey and four from Ireland. Two passengers each were from Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand. One each came from Croatia, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, the Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland and Tunisia.
Sheikh Ahmed later said there were indications of wind shear — a sudden change in wind speed or direction — during the aircraft’s descent, but it was not immediately clear whether that played a role. He said investigators would examine the possibility.
Saif Mohamed Al Suwaidi, director general of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, said an investigation team had been activated and was working with Emirates and Dubai Airports. “Our primary concern at this moment is the safety and well-being of all passengers and cabin crew,” he said.
Boeing said a technical team was ready to assist the inquiry alongside the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Founded in 1985, Emirates has long been regarded as having a strong safety record and is the largest airline in the Middle East. Dubai International Airport handled 78 million passengers last year. The accident was among the most serious in the carrier’s history and briefly disrupted one of the region’s main aviation hubs.
Officials said the cause had not been determined. Attention focused on the landing sequence, reports of landing-gear trouble, and weather conditions on approach. Authorities emphasized that the rapid evacuation prevented a far worse outcome, even as emergency crews paid a heavy price fighting the fire that followed.