Emirates flight makes emergency landing in Mumbai

Mumbai, July 26 (IANS) An Emirates flight from Dubai to Male made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport on Tuesday afternoon after smoke was detected on board, officials said.

All 309 passengers and 10 crew members on the plane are safe, they added.

The Boeing 777-300 flight EK-652 landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport amid full emergency measures in place around 2 p.m.

"A full emergency was declared at 13.59 hrs and the flight landed an hour later at 14.58 hrs on runway No 9," said an official spokesperson.

The measures were implemented after an SOS from the pilot to the Air Traffic Control and Indian Coast Guard ships reportedly alerted to readiness in case the aircraft failed to reach Mumbai across the Arabian Sea.

Later, in a brief statement, Emirates said: "The Dubai-Male flight was diverted to Mumbai because of a technical fault. The aircraft landed and the passengers disembarked safely."