The engine of an airplane burst into flames right after it took off from an airport in western Australia on Tuesday, forcing an emergency landing. There were no injuries, the Associated Press reported.
The 92-passsenger Cobham Aviation aircraft was forced to return to Perth Airport after one of its four engines caught fire on Tuesday morning, local time. The fire broke out as the plane was ascending into the air.
"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished," Cobham Aviation Services said in a statement obtained by the AP. "There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."
The plane was headed for Barrow Island off the coast of west Australia. The company said the fire affected the second engine on the plane's inner port side, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The cause of the fire on the British Aerospace BAE 146 jet is not yet known.
Jason Grimmett, a passenger on the plane, said the fire occurred about 10 minutes after takeoff.
"I was sitting right next to the engine, it looks like something blew outside the engine," Grimmett told ABC. "Fuel starting spewing out, caught alight- there was a bit of panic on board but the pilots were quite quick to react and cut fuel lines and then put it out.
"So we just turned around and came back in," Grimmett told ABC.
Witnesses on the ground expressed their shock at seeing a flying plane on fire.
"There was flames coming out of the left-hand side of the engine," a man who just arrived at the airport told ABC. "I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was actually quite frightening."
Perth is serving as headquarters in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur headed for Beijing, the AP reported.
