Passengers aboard an Air China were on Sunday evacuated when they landed in Singapore after one of the plane's engines caught fire, leading to a three-hour closure of Changi Airport.
According to videos making rounds on social media, passengers are seen being evacuated using the emergency exit slide while dark smoke billowed from the engine that was still on fire.
Air China A320neo evacuated on the runway at Singapore after the engine caught fire on approach to the airport. pic.twitter.com/6uorjdZQMI
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) September 10, 2023
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Other images inside the plane showed a dark cabin, and the aisle blanketed in smoke.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, all the 146 passengers and nine crew members safely evacuated after landing at about 4:15 p.m. local time.
About ten minutes later, a fire in the left engine was put out. Still, the report added that nine passengers suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation injuries when being evacuated.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter by Changi Airport, smoke was also detected in the front cargo hold and a lavatory.
An Air China flight (CA403) from Chengdu encountered smoke in the forward cargo hold and lavatory on route to Changi Airport. The aircraft landed on Runway 3 at around 1615 hrs and all passengers and crew have evacuated safely. The fire in the left engine has been put out.
— Changi Airport (@ChangiAirport) September 10, 2023
On its part, Air China said in a statement on Weibo that flight CA403 was traveling from China’s Chengdu Tianfu Airport to Singapore Changi Airport when smoke appeared in the cabin of the A320neo before landing.
The carrier initially determined that a mechanical failure of the engine caused the fire, and further investigation is underway.
