Nine passengers injured as plane makes terrifying emergency landing after engine catches fire and cabin fills with smoke
TERRIFYING footage has emerged of a plane cabin filling up with smoke after its engine burst into flames mid-air.
Nine people sustained “minor injuries” after the Air China flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore, authorities said.
Flight CA403 from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu “encountered smoke in the forward cargo hold and lavatory” while on its way to the city-state, Changi Airport said in a statement on Facebook.
The plane, which held 146 passengers and nine crew, landed safely at around 4:15pm local time.
A statement reported that “all passengers and crew have evacuated safely”.
It also confirmed that “The fire in the left engine has been put out.
“Nine passengers sustained minor injuries related to smoke inhalation and abrasions during the evacuation process.
“They have since been attended to.”
A video clip posted on X showed passengers exiting what appeared to be the damaged aircraft down an emergency slide as the blaze relented.
The runway was closed briefly and one aircraft was diverted to the nearby island of Batam in Indonesia, The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.
It said the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau was investigating the incident and has contacted its Chinese counterpart to help.
Air China did not respond to an AFP query.
It comes after passengers frantically pleaded for oxygen masks to descend as smoke began to fill the cabin mid-air.
Travellers on the Gol Airlines flight across Brazil were left gasping for air as pilots were forced to make a dramatic emergency landing.