A Riyadh-bound Air India plane with 229 people on board had a near brush with disaster on Friday when one of its engines caught fire moments before take-off at the Mumbai airport, forcing passengers to be evacuated through emergency exit chutes. All the 213 passengers and 16 crew members of AI-829 flight were safe as the blaze which was noticed as the plane was taxiing on the runway was put out immediately, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) officials said. Air India de-rostered an aircraft maintenance engineer responsible for the flight’s departure, pending investigation, A-I spokesman Jitender Bhargava said.
As the Boeing 747-400 ‘Konark’ aircraft was taxiing on the runway for takeoff at around 1050 hours, the fire below the left wing of the 16-year-old leased aircraft was noticed by a passenger through the window, who reported it to cabin crew, eyewitnesses said. The pilot immediately aborted the flight and alerted the Air Traffic Control. The emergency drill was activated, officials said.
Fire tenders rushed to douse the fire that was visible from airport terminal, the eyewitnesses said. Black smoke billowed out from the plane’s engine as the people were evacuated through emergency exit chutes and taken to safety. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken up investigation into the incident and is looking into suspected fuel leak from the wings, which may have caused the fire in one of the four engines of the aircraft.
