Big scare for passengers on a Tibet Airlines flight. A plane from the Chinese company left the runway Thursday morning before catching fire at Chongqing International Airport (southwest China), without causing any deaths, according to the company. All 113 passengers and nine crew members were evacuated and brought “to safety”, the carrier said. About forty people, slightly injured, were however taken to hospital, the airport said.
The aircraft was to make a domestic flight between Chongqing and Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region (southwest China) but an incident occurred at 08:09 local time (00:09 GMT). A video broadcast by public broadcaster CCTV shows a plane on the tarmac and a violent fire raging, with thick black smoke rising in the sky. “During the take-off phase, the crew noticed an anomaly and aborted the procedure. The aircraft ran off the runway,” Tibet Airlines said in a statement. “The aircraft was damaged by fire.”
Tibet Airlines TV9833/A319/B-6425 from Chongqing to Nyingchi was on fire during take-off this morning, details still not known. CKG/ZUCK closed for now. pic.twitter.com/CPL47fmfVk
— FATIII Aviation (@FATIIIAviation) May 12, 2022