All 300 On Board Safely Evacuated, Official Say

An Emirates Boeing 777 crash-landed at Dubai airport Wednesday after the pilot reported a problem with the plane's landing gear just before landing. The plane caught fire after landing, but all 300 people on board were safely evacuated, according to authorities.

The U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reports that it is not yet known whether the gear did not deploy or if it failed during the landing attempt. In a statement, the airline confirmed "there are no fatalities among our passengers and crew. All passengers and crew are accounted for and safe."

The aircraft was a triple-7 that has been in service since 2003, according to the report. Flight EK521 was arriving from Trivandrum, India when the accident occurred. The investigation will be led by UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority, and Boeing has said it will support the investigation.

Dubai Airport was closed while the fire was brought under control. Emirates said that it expected delays of up to 8 hours across its entire network, and closing the airport, the busiest in the Middle East, caused delays and other disruptions throughout the region.

(Image from YouTube video)

FMI: www.emirates.com