Emirates passenger claims he was ‘kicked out’ after smoke billows from Chennai-Dubai flight during refuelling

A fire broke out inside an Emirates plane at the Chennai International Airport before its flight to Dubai late on Tuesday night, reported Hindustan Times.

The report said the plane was being refuelled ahead of the flight to Dubai when smoke began rising from it. Following this, the ground workers from the tarmac—shooting the video—saw plumes of white smoke coming out of the plane's tail as airport employees carefully approached it.

Soon after this, the fire officials started spraying water on the plane's tail to extinguish the fire.

Here's the video:

An Emirates spokesperson later said that the flight EK547 from Chennai to Dubai was delayed due to a 'technical fault'.

"Emirates flight EK547 from Chennai to Dubai on 24 September 2024 was delayed due to a technical fault. Following an engineering inspection, the aircraft was cleared to proceed to Dubai. Emirates apologises for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of the utmost importance," ANI quoted Emirates as saying.

Passengers 'kicked out'

In another post on social media, passengers – supposed to board the flight at Chennai – alleged that the airlines kicked out the passengers after they boarded the plane.

"We were kicked out of the flight once boarded and asked to stand outside for 50 mins without any reason," X user Sathish said in a post.

He also added that after they were removed from the plane they were told that their flight would be delayed by 2.5 hours. "This is completely unacceptable behavior from Emirates," he wrote.

Responding to the post, Emirates took to X and apologised for the delay. "We're sorry for the flight delay, Sathish. Also, we're sorry for your disappointment. Please DM us with the booking reference/ticket number, full name and email address on the booking. We'll check and guide you. Thanks," the response said.