An Emirates passenger jet has crash landed at Dubai Airport this morning before exploding into a massive fireball on the runway.
Thick black smoke could be seen rising over Dubai International Airport after an Emirates Boeing 777, carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew was forced into an emergency landing at around 12.45pm local time.
There are reports the landing gear for the plane, which had flown from Trivandrum International Airport in India, may not have come down fully prior to touching down. Other reports claimed the engine on the right side caught fire and fell off while landing.
Dramatic footage shows the aircraft exploding in a fireball on the runway, with the force of the blast throwing a huge metal panel from the plane into the air. Separate video captures the moment it scrapes along the runway before coming to a halt in a cloud of smoke.
Incredibly, all passengers were reportedly evacuated safely within 45 seconds of landing before the plane was engulfed in flames.
Photographs of the incident showed a plane lying crumpled on its belly on the tarmac with black smoke pouring from its upper section.
The captain is believed to have sent out and emergency signal in the moments before the plane was preparing to land.
A pilot who witnessed flight EK521 landing told NDTV the plane came in ‘really hard’ and hit the ‘runway tail’. A passenger on another plane said she could see emergency chutes deployed.
All flights to the Dubai terminal have been diverted while emergency crews work at the scene. All take-offs and landings have been suspended.
Chris Galusha landed at Dubai Airport just 25 minutes before the plane crash landed, which has caused four to five hours of delays.
‘The board is slowly updating major delays. Cannot see anything from terminal at this time,’ he tweeted MailOnline, alongside a picture of the departure screen showing all flights as delayed.
