Emirates plane makes emergency landing in Cape Town

An Emirates flight was forced into making an emergency landing at South Africa's Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday following a technical snag with the aircraft's landing gear. Confirming the incident, an Emirates spokesperson told Gulf News in an e-mailed statement: "Emirates flight EK773, which departed Cape Town for Dubai at 13:55 hours (local time) on January 4, returned to Cape Town at 15:20 hours after a technical issue developed with the aircraft's landing gear." The Dubai-based carrier added that the aircraft landed "uneventfully" with "no risk" to the safety of the 243 passengers or crew on board at any point. Emirates further said that passengers were being provided with hotel accommodation until a replacement flight departed from Cape Town on Thursday afternoon.