Dubai: While jumping down the chute of EK521 holding the hand of her 10-year-old son, Firdaus, Sharjah resident Shahina Rasheed Ansari had no idea that she was actually having a miraculous escape.
On summer vacation at her parental house in Thiruvananthapuram in the South Indian state of Kerala, Ansari was returning to the UAE earlier than scheduled as she had some work. “We had no idea that the engine had caught fire as the plane landed. It was only when the belly touched the ground and there was a loud sound, I knew something was wrong as everything started shaking,” she recalls.
WAM released on Friday night a video showing the incident and its aftermath:
Ansari and her son were seated on the right side next to an emergency door on seats 23 J and K. She said: “I saw the face of a cabin crew member sitting right opposite me turn pale. She immediately opened the emergency exit and it was then that I saw the smoke billowing on the left side.
"She immediately shut it and instructed us to move ahead to the right side. The entire cabin was filled with dark smoke and people started screaming. We could hardly see anything; my son was holding my hand and we made our way to the emergency exit on the right side.
"But even then, I had no clue how serious it was. All this must have lasted two or three minutes as my son, who said he had shut his eyes tight, jumped together with me.
"I lost my footwear and when I got to the ground, the tarmac was burning hot. I could hear instructions of “run, run” and I just started following the people running in the direction of a building.
"The place where the plane had parked was not very familiar. Since I was barefoot, I could not run longer and after a short distance started jumping in one place as I couldn’t put my feet down. My soles were burning. A kind passenger gave me a pair of socks and I stood a little away from the aircraft and wore them. It was only when I turned to look behind, I heard the explosion and saw the aircraft on fire,” recounted Ansari.
“When I looked at the pictures and the videos, the thought sank in that this was an escape from the jaws of death. We are so thankful to the presence of mind of the cabin crew. They wasted no time and followed the right protocols and evacuated everyone. I am sure the pilots also averted a major tragedy by landing the way they did or else the outcome could have been the worst.
“I had blisters and burns on the soles of my feet which were attended to at the airport clinic. They cleaned my wounds, gave me first aid, but considering the magnitude of the incident, I think what I have are very minor injuries,” added Ansari, who has been regularly going to a clinic near her home for cleaning the wounds and changing dressings.
“I am thankful to be alive and full of gratitude to the Almighty that we are safe and sound. I would personally like to thank the staff at Dubai Airports and the brave firefighters who saved our lives. My heart goes out to the firefighter who lost his life saving us. The concerted efforts of everyone averted a major disaster.”
