As usual—and understandably after aircraft crashes—there has been much speculation about what led to the landing accident at Dubai International Airport of Emirates Flight 521 (EK521), a Boeing 777-300, on Aug. 4. It is of course too soon to reconstruct a detailed chain of events, but even though all on board survived—one fireman died—and only a few were injured, no one should take the event lightly.
So far, little is known about what happened to EK521. It was an extremely hot day—49C (120F)—in Dubai, affecting engine performance. There were wind shear warnings in place for all runways—12L was in use at the time of the accident. Several aircraft, also coincidentally Emirates Boeing 777s, had already initiated go-arounds after unstable final approaches. EK521 was itself supposed to climb back up to 4,000 ft., but the procedure went wrong as it failed to regain altitude. The pilot of anAir India Express aircraft awaiting departure at the parallel Runway 12R claims he noticed the 777-300’s high pitch attitude at very low altitude, indicating insufficient speed and power. More will likely be known as soon as the wreckage itself can be analyzed; the cockpit voice and flight data recorders have already been recovered.
Credit: airlinesafetycards.be

Some aspects can be highlighted, without inappropriate speculation. One very serious lesson the airline industry can take away from the accident is about passenger behavior and crew intervention. As videos posted on social media immediately after the accident show, many of the passengers were in no particular hurry to leave the airplane, which was on fire. They opened the overhead bins to retrieve their luggage, slowing down the evacuation process. That the delay did not result in fatalities can be attributed to pure luck.
But what happened on EK521 should be reason enough for airlines to consider how passengers can be better educated. The cabin evacuation process will likely not be at the center of the accident investigation, which is focusing on the sequence of events that led to the aircraft’s failed landing in the first place, but it also merits a fair amount of attention. 
The challenge, of course, is that such evacuations are rarely necessary; even very frequent fliers and cabin crews are unlikely to ever experience them. But if they happen, evacuating everyone as quickly as possible is the No. 1 priority once the aircraft has come to a rest—even if passengers believe things aren’t quite so serious because they, personally, have not been hurt in the accident. Also, some may be in a state of distress from not knowing what they should—or should not—do.
An analysis of events in the cabin after the landing should include the cabin crew’s actions and whether or not changes to evacuation manuals are needed. Emirates’ experience from EK521 should be shared through industry work groups. TheInternational Air Transport Association’s safety organization would surely be interested in what happened.
In general, Emirates handled communications around the event well. The airline used social media channels for frequent updates on the accident itself and the effect on operations caused by the temporary closure of the airport. It was clear the airline had an emergency plan that it executed effectively. The only caveat: Calling the event an “operational incident upon landing” was simply inappropriate. It was a major accident in which the aircraft was completely destroyed.
Airlines are of course always concerned about the damage a crash can cause to their brands. But such damage will not be mitigated by not calling an accident an accident, but by other factors: It is more important how the airline deals with the aftermath and whatever weaknesses are discovered in the investigation. What is more, there is no doubt Emirates is a professionally run, safe airline. It has only now suffered its first hull loss after 32 years in existence.
Dubai’s authorities found the sudden publicity harder to deal with than the airline did. In fact, the General Civil Aviation Authority demanded via Twitter that residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) not post pictures or videos of aircraft accidents on social media channels, saying doing so was irresponsible, disrespectful and against UAE law.
Whether it is really irresponsible and disrespectful depends on circumstances and content, but it is simply a fact of life that people will take pictures and videos if an aircraft crashes right in front of them, like it or not. A video showing the entire landing would actually be a great help in the accident investigation, but so far, somewhat surprisingly, none has surfaced.