Smoke billowing out of the tail of a Dubai-bound Emirates flight sent Chennai Airport into a tizzy last night, and the ground staff immediately sprang into action. The incident occurred with a Boeing 777 stationary on the tarmac and a plume of white smoke emitted from the engine compartment. No passengers were inside the aircraft at that time.
This was captured through footage on the tarmac; it depicted fuel overfilling before takeoff. Ground staff quickly cleared the place as the smoke fumes drifted toward another parked aircraft behind the Emirates flight.
According to an official at Chennai airport,
“Ground staff alerted the pilots, who immediately switched off the engines to avert further escalation. Fire engines were sent out as part of the standard operating procedure. The situation was controlled, and passengers were deplaned for a safety check.”
The flight was supposed to carry around 300 passengers, but the incident happened before boarding began. Fire engines remained deployed continuously for any potential fire hazard. Originally scheduled for a flight at 10 PM, it finally took off at 12:30 AM, more than two hours later than its scheduled time.
The incident has prompted an investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation regulator. Emirates Airlines apologized for the inconvenience passengers caused: “Following an engineering inspection, the aircraft was cleared to proceed to Dubai. Emirates apologizes for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance.”
