Twenty-seven injured in plane accident in Dubai airport

DUBAI: At least 27 people were injured when a Biman Bangladesh plane skidded along the runway as it was taking off from here on Monday morning, causing the closure of the Dubai International Airport for about eight hours.

The Biman Airlines Flight BG006 was taking off at 6:30 am (0800 IST) en-route to Dhaka when a malfunction occurred that caused the take-off to be aborted and the plane was left sliding nose down along the tarmac.

The Airbus A310, carrying 236 passengers, also lost a front wheel, Gulf News reported.

Twenty-seven passengers, mostly Bangladeshis, sustained minor injuries and were treated at the airport, while one woman, said to be a British citizen of Bengali origin, was taken to the Trauma Centre at Rashid Hospital here but later discharged, the report said.

The aircraft was quickly evacuated after the incident, the Dubai Civil Aviation (DCA) said.

The airport reopened at around 2 pm (1530 IST), about eight hours after its closure, with the first incoming flights landing approximately 20 minutes later.

A total of 71 flights were affected by the closure, with 36 outbound flights cancelled and 35 incoming flights diverted to other airports in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

A statement on the Dubai Airport website said, "Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG 006 from Dubai to Dhaka had an accident during departure and failed to take off around 6.30 am today".

"The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and DCA are investigating the cause of the accident," the statement said.

The GCAA oversees the aviation sector in the United Arab Emirates.

Civil aviation authorities advised passengers to check with their airlines for the status of their flights after the reopening of the airport.

Dubai airport is the busiest in the Middle East, handling almost 29 million passengers last year.