Alive! 300 passengers - including 24 Brits - escape when their Emirates jet crash-lands at Dubai airport after catching fire in the air and EXPLODING on landing

The Boeing 777 jet crash landed at Dubai International Airport following a flight from Trivandrum Airport in India

Dramatic footage shows Emirates passenger jet exploding into a fireball on the runway after emergency landing

Airline says there were no fatalities in the crash and that all 282 passengers and 18 crew were evacuated safely

Terrified passengers 'told by pilot moments before landing that there was a problem with the landing gear'

There were 24 Britons, six Americans, two Australians and four Irish among those on board flight EK521

All flights to the Dubai terminal have since been diverted while all take-offs and landings have been suspended

By JULIAN ROBINSON and ISABEL HUNTER and JENNIFER NEWTON FOR BE INFORMED

PUBLISHED: 09:26 GMT, 3 August 2016 | UPDATED: 12:46 GMT, 3 August 2016

Three hundred passengers and crew miraculously escaped with their lives this morning when their Emirates jet crash-landed at Dubai airport and exploded.

All of those on board, including 24 Britons and six Americans, were led to safety at Dubai International Airport, minutes before the Boeing 777 was completely destroyed in a massive fireball.

Terrified passengers were told moments before landing that there was a problem with landing gear on the plane, which was flying from Trivandrum International Airport in India. Other reports claimed the engine on the right side caught fire and fell off while coming in to land.

Dramatic footage shows the aircraft exploding in a fireball on the runway, with the force of the blast throwing a huge 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 on board, including the 18 crew, escaped through emergency exits as the cabin filled with smoke and were able to sprint to safety minutes before the plane exploded into flames.

Emergency: An Emirates passenger jet carrying 282 passengers has crash landed at Dubai Airport before bursting into flames

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

A pilot who witnessed flight EK521 landing said the plane came in 'really hard' and hit the 'runway tail' before coming to a halt

Emirates said the flight departed at 10.19am from Trivandrum International Airport and was scheduled to land at 12.50pm at Dubai International Airport

Emirates airlines Boeing 777-300 A6-EMW plane flight number EK521 from Trivandrum to Dubai lays on the ground in Dubai airport after being gutted by fire

 Passengers have revealed how the flight came down suddenly before bouncing upwards on landing.

One told Asianet: 'In no time the cabin was filled with smoke. There was no announcement. The emergency door was forced open. We believe all the passengers and crew have escaped. Many of us now feel we have breathing problems because of the smoke.'

Photographs of the incident showed a plane lying crumpled on its belly on the tarmac with black smoke pouring from its upper section while more video shows passengers running to safety at the terminal having been evacuated.

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.

Passengers evacuated from the plane say that minutes before the flight crash-landed at Dubai airport, the pilot made an announcement that he needed to make an emergency landing amid problems with the landing gear.

Cabin crew then opened all the emergency exits of the plane and all 300 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were evacuated 'within minutes of the landing'.

Dubai resident Girisankal Gangadhakan said his wife called him after the plane landed to tell him that she and their three children onboard had been involved in an accident but were safe.

'I was shocked when I heard about that,' he said.

The Dubai government's official media office said on Twitter that all passengers were 'evacuated safely and no injuries have been reported so far'

Pictures show smoke coming from the plane on a runway at the airport. All flights to the Dubai terminal have been diverted while emergency crews work at the scene

Controllers at Dubai had reminded the crew of the Boeing 777 to lower the landing gear as it came into approach

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

 T.P. Seetharam, the Indian ambassador to the UAE, says Indian diplomats have been dispatched to the airport and had met directly with many passengers. He says many are in shock, and that only one person - a crew member - had been taken to the hospital for treatment.

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.

‘Airport is quiet right now. Calm before storm before people deplane,’ he tweeted.

The Emirates plane that crashed down at Dubai International Airport before exploding into flames was carrying 24 Britons, it has emerged

 In one video posted online a woman with a British accent can be heard gasping as she watched from the terminal.

‘Are there people in that plane? Oh my god, the smoke’s getting darker,’ she says.

According to air traffic control recordings cited by Aviation Herald, a respected independent website specialising in information on air accidents, controllers at Dubai had reminded the crew of the Boeing 777 to lower the landing gear as it came into approach.

Shortly afterwards, the crew announced they were aborting the landing to "go around," a routine procedure for which pilots are well trained, but the aircraft came to rest near the end of the runway instead, Aviation Herald reported.

There was no immediate confirmation on whether the landing gear was extended when the aircraft touched the ground.

Hundreds of passengers miraculously escaped with their lives this morning when their Emirates jet crash-landed at Dubai airport and exploded 

All 300 on board, including 24 Britons and 18 crew, were led to safety at Dubai International Airport, minutes before the Boeing 777 was completely destroyed in a massive fireball

Eye-witnesses described seeing plumes of smoke coming from the jet moments before it crashed down.

Emirates said in a statement: 'Emirates can confirm that today, August 3 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 282 passengers and 18 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.

'We can confirm that there are no fatalities among our passengers and crew. All passengers and crew are accounted for and safe.

'We are expecting a four-hour network wide delay, more information will be available on the Emirates website and social media channels.'

The Dubai government's official media office said: 'All passengers were evacuated safely and no injuries have been reported so far.

'Concerned Authorities at Dubai International Airport are dealing with the incident at the moment to ensure safety of all.'

Planemaker Boeing said in a statement it was monitoring the situation in Dubai and it would be working with Emirates to gather more information.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising over Dubai International Airport after an Emirates plane reportedly crashed at around 12.45pm local time

Dubai International is by far the Middle East's busiest airport, and is the world's busiest air hub in terms of international passenger traffic

 Meanwhile, the pilot and crew have been roundly praised for landing the plane, with initial reports suggesting the pilot asked the airport for permission for a crash landing.

‘Emirates pilot looks like he expertly landed the 777, and although there was a fire, still was time for pax [sic] to exit, get away,’ Tweeted US-based journalist and aviation blogger Gerry Doyle.

And an Indian journalist for ABP news wrote: 'Passengers on board Emirates flight almost kiss & survive death..Pilot deserves all praises to have managed to save so many lives.'

Also praising the pilot from India, where the flight originated, was Bollywood star Pushkar Jog, who said: ‘Emirates EK521 flight crashes after landing at d Dubai airport . Pilot saved 282 lives ..All passengers safe.’

Dubai International is by far the Middle East's busiest airport, and is the world's busiest air hub in terms of international passenger traffic.

Government-backed Emirates is the region's biggest carrier, and operates the world's largest airline fleet of the wide-body 777 long-haul aircraft.

Dubai International is the world's largest hub in terms of international passengers, and is the base for Emirates, from where it serves more than 153 destinations

A passenger tweeted this picture as delays started to build up at Dubai International today

The incident comes almost four months after a plane belonging to Dubai's other carrier, flydubai, crashed and burst into flames as it was landing in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia, killing all 61 people onboard.

On July 26, an Emirates Boeing 777-300 aircraft heading to the Maldives made an emergency landing in Mumbai because of a 'technical fault'.

Dubai International is the world's largest hub in terms of international passengers, and is the base for Emirates, from where it serves more than 153 destinations.

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi's Etihad have seized a significant portion of transcontinental travel, capitalising on the geographic locations of their Gulf hubs.

Emirates is the largest single operator of the Boeing 777, as well as the Airbus A380 superjumbo, and has expanded its fleet to 250 aircraft last year.

Thiruvananthapuram is the capital of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, a popular beachside tourist destination. Many blue-collar migrant workers employed in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations come from Kerala.

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