BEIJING: A Tibet Airlines plane caught fire on Thursday at a Chinese airport after veering off the runway, but all passengers and crew were “safely evacuated”, the airline said.
The flight, carrying 113 passengers and nine crew, was headed from the southwestern city of Chongqing to Tibet’s Nyingchi when crew noticed “abnormalities” and “suspended take off”, causing the jet to overrun the runway and catch fire, the company said in a statement.
Images shared by Chinese state media showed flames engulfing the wing of the stricken jet as terrified passengers ran from the scene.
“All passengers and crew have been safely evacuated,” Tibet Airlines said in a statement.
“The injured passengers were all only lightly injured, and have been sent to hospital for treatment.”
The incident comes after a China Eastern flight travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou plunged from 29,000 feet into a mountainside in March, killing all 132 people on board.
No reason for that crash has been given, China’s deadliest disaster in around 30 years.
Two flight recorders, or “black boxes”, were recovered and are being analysed in the United States in the hopes of unlocking the mystery behind the China Eastern jet’s rapid descent.
Investigations found the flight and cabin crews’ qualifications “meet requirements”, and the same was said of maintenance staff. – AFP
