DENPASAR (Indonesia) “ A Cathay Pacific aircraft flying from Perth to Hong Kong caught fire mid-flight and made an emergency landing in Indonesia. The Airbus A330 Flight CX170 with 251 passengers on board landed safely in Denpasar, Balis capital after an engine caught fire, the airline later confirmed. Perth man Joel Cirna told Perth Radio 6PR there was shock and panic among passengers when there was a loud bang and the plane shook. Through the window passengers saw flames coming from an engine. œAll the lights went out, I looked to the window and we could see flames and sparks by the wing and the motor was on fire, Cirna said on the radio station, the West Australian newspaper reported. œA lot of people were asleep and got woken up. A lot of people were pretty shaken. œA few of us had no time to react, we just had to snap into it and look after the ones next to us, the girl next to me started freaking out, crying. œThen they announced over the radio they had lost power to one of the engines … we were doing an emergency landing in Bali. œIt felt like a long time from the moment of the bang and the plane shake and the losing power and the flames, it was a scary sight, he said. œEventually the flames went out and staffs were running up and down the aisle with their torches trying to get everyone sorted. Many passengers were confident they would land safely, he said, œbut then obviously there were those were who werent, and were shaking and crying. Cirna said the plane landed within fifteen minutes of the engine catching fire. He said passengers burst into applause for the pilot as soon as they landed safely. The airport confirmed the plane landed at 3:35 am (1835 Thursday GMT). œSome passengers are staying in hotels while others switched to other flights, said Ketut Yudarsana, an official at Balis Ngurah Rai airport. œThe plane is still at the airport. Cathay Pacific said the flight left Perth at midnight and made an emergency landing at Denpasar Airport in Bali because of a œNo 2 engine defect. œThe engine was shut down and an emergency landing was declared, the spokesperson said. œThe aircraft landed safely … fire services met the aircraft on arrival, the West Australia reported. œThere was no fire on board, and no passengers or crew were injured.“ BERNAMA
To continue reading the rest of the article, click here