Around 145 passengers on board a Jazeera Airways flight had a close shave after a fire broke out in the airplane’s engine after it landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad in the early hours of Thursday.
Authorities at Hyderabad airport immediately doused the fire and inspected the aircraft. No injuries were reported.
According to reports, Jazeera Airways flight J9 608 coming in from Kuwait witnessed some sparks in its right engine as it was landing at around 1:30 am on Thursday, following which a fire broke out.
The pilot managed to avert a major mishap as he turned off the engine immediately after Air Traffic Control staff noticed the flames.
“The sparks soon led to fire in the engine and the aircraft was immediately stopped. As per the airport protocol, the authorities rushed fire tenders to the aircraft, but by that time, the fire was immediately brought under control automatically as the pilot stopped the engine. No casualty of any passengers was reported,” an airport official was quoted as saying.
A video of the incident, reportedly captured by some ground staff, shows the plane inching forward after the fire broke out in its right side before coming to a halt.
Once the passengers were evacuated, the plane was shifted out of the runway. Jazeera Airways is yet to issue a statement. Further details are awaited.
Flight No J9 608, landed at Hyderabad airport at 0135am, right engine catches fire. All 145 PAX evacuated and safe. pic.twitter.com/qJn4rVArx1
— Pramod Madhav (@madhavpramod1) August 2, 2018
In March this year, several hundred passengers were forced to spend their night in aircraft and at airports when an Indigo aircraft from Tirupati had a narrow escape after one of its tyres burst while landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
Over 70 passengers on board the flight had a close shave, as alert personnel of the fire-fighting team rushed to the aircraft to prevent any mishap. However, the incident threw several flights out of gear, not only at the Hyderabad airport but also at the Chennai and Bengaluru airports.