A plane carrying 97 people made an emergency landing in western Australia today after one of its engines caught fire. No one was injured.
Cobham Aviation Services said one of the plane's four engines caught fire as it was climbing shortly after takeoff from Perth Airport.
"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished," the company said in a statement.
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"There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."
The British Aerospace BAe 146 jet, which had been heading to Barrow Island off the west Australian coast, returned to Perth and landed safely. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Passenger Jason Grimmett said he was sitting near the engine that caught fire.
"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," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"So we just turned around and came back in."
Perth is serving as the hub for a multinational search effort for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
Analyses of satellite and radar data show the Malaysian plane probably crashed somewhere in the remote Indian Ocean far off the west Australia coast.
