Smell of smoke forces Emirates flight to return and land in Perth

Perth: An Emirates aircraft from Australia turned around and landed safely on Thursday after a burning smell was detected on board, prompting a frantic search by air crew and fear among more than 100 passengers, the airline and witnesses said.

The cause of the problem on the Airbus A340-500 was not immediately known. Aircraft engineers were investigating the cause of the burning smell.

Emirates flight EK425 carrying 120 passengers from the western Australia city of Perth to Dubai, UAE, returned to Perth and touched down without incident about two hours after takeoff.

Passengers said the pilot announced that a smell of smoke had been reported and he was returning to Perth as a precaution. They reported the smell getting stronger after the plane landed.

“When we landed that's when you could really smell it,'' passenger Tracey Corp said.

“The decision to return to Perth was a precautionary measure one and a half hours into the flight and all passengers disembarked normally after the plane landed,'' Emirates said in a statement.

“Emergency services were activated as per standard procedure but were not required. Safety was not compromised at any point,'' it said.

Passengers described seeing air crew rushing through the cabin looking for a possible fire.

Perth resident Sunny Chopra said he did not smell anything unusual but became worried despite assurances offered by a stewardess.

“She said there was nothing to worry about but the way they were running in the plane ... it raised (alarm) bells,'' Chopra said.

The airline said all passengers were being rescheduled on a later Emirates flight.

Westralia Airports Corp. spokesman Malcolm Bradshaw said fire and ambulance crews were mobilized after the airport's emergency systems were triggered, but he was not aware of the nature of the problem on board.

Dubai-based Emirates operates two direct flights a week between Dubai and Perth as well as flights to other Australian cities.