Skydive Dubai plane runs off runway

The Palm Drop zone will be closed on Saturday after the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter “deviated off course, resulting in a minor accident”.

The twin propeller plane had just a pilot on board when it tried to land at the company’s landing strip. Kamran Jebreili / AP

DUBAI // A Skydive Dubai plane ran off a runway on Friday while trying to land, though no one was injured, authorities said.

Dubai Media Office said the twin propeller plane had just the pilot on board when it tried to land at the company’s landing strip, off Dubai Marina.

It said the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter “deviated off course, resulting in a minor accident”.

The aircraft could be seen at the end of its runway, its nose smashed into the ground near the breakers running along the water. Two Civil Defence fire engines were parked alongside the aircraft.

Two guards at Skydive Dubai blocked media from the crash site and declined to comment.

Skydive Dubai phones were also ringing out.

In a Facebook post, the company, which is affiliated with Sheikh Hamdan, Crown Prince of Dubai, blamed “as of yet unknown circumstances” for the plane going off the runway.

“We are thankful our pilot is fine,” the post read. “The incident is already under investigation by the authorities.”

The post also noted that the Palm Drop Zone will be closed on Saturday.

This is the third time this year an incident has struck the skydiving company.

In April, Majed Al Shuaiby, 35, from Saudi Arabia, who was on holiday with his two brothers, died during a skydive.

Then in July, Skydive Dubai said one of its planes carrying 15 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off in the desert outside of Dubai over a technical problem. Photos showed smoke rising from the crashed plane and its fire-gutted fuselage.

* Associated Press