Dubai International Airport has re-opened following an incident this morning (12 March) involving a Biman Bangladesh Airlines Airbus A310-300, that saw 27 passengers injured and many services diverted.
Exact details of the accident are unclear, although unconfirmed reports suggest that the aircraft, carrying 229 passengers and crew, underwent a tyre burst or collapsed nosewheel. Pictures from Dubai Airport show the A310 at the end of the runway with its nose on the ground and surrounded by airport vehicles and what appears to be an emergency evacuation slide on the ground.
A spokesman was unable to elaborate on the precise nature of the injuries, but confirmed that they were minor, although one passenger was taken to the Trauma Centre at Rashid Hospital in Dubai and later released.
”That story [nose gear] has been doing the rounds, but the GCAA (General Civil Aviation Authority) is investigating the accident,” an airport spokesman told ABTN from Dubai.
The airport currently has only one runway, as a second is not scheduled for completion until the third quarter of this year in anticipation of the arrival of Emirates Airlines” A380 aircraft. Consequently, 71 flights were affected, of which 36 were cancelled and 35 incoming services diverted to airports in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE and to Muscat (Oman), Kuwait and Shiraz (Iran).
”Safety of passengers is our first and most important priority and I am glad it all ended relatively well,” said a Dubai Civil Aviation spokesman, Huraiz bin Huraiz. ”The closure of the runway for eight hours was primarily to inspect its condition.
”We are operational at full capacity, but passengers should check with their respective airlines to confirm flight status.”