A fire broke out in the engine of an Air India Express plane at Muscat International Airport on Wednesday morning, leading to the evacuation of its passengers, officials said on Wednesday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Oman said on its Twitter account: “The Indian Express flight … this morning at 11:33 was subject to failure and a fire broke out in one of the engines before taking off from Muscat International Airport. “
Passengers who were on the plane were evacuated, according to the agency, which “resulted in minor injuries as a result of a crush on passengers during the evacuation.”
Footage broadcast on Omani television shows smoke rising from the aircraft over the runway.
Air India Express said in a statement that some of the 141 passengers suffered “minor bruises”, noting that there was no fire warning in the cockpit and that smoke was detected by another aircraft.
“All passengers were safely evacuated after engine number 2 of an Air India Express aircraft on the runway at Muscat airport was found to be smoke-filled,” Arun Kumar, Director General of India’s Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP.
“A rescue flight will be organized. We will investigate the incident and take appropriate action,” Kumar said.
In August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344, a Boeing 737 with 190 passengers and crew, crashed at Kozhikode Airport in the southern state of Kerala.
