The crew of flight AF393 in Boeing-777 bound for Paris had to turn around this Saturday morning shortly after taking off from Beijing following a “technical incident”. The airline company specifies that the aircraft was able to land “normally” at 4:30 am (local time).
According to the Beijing Daily, “an explosion was heard at the back of the cabin and black smoke was released” inside the aircraft.
More fear than harm for passengers. “Fortunately, no one was injured,” reports the local newspaper. Air France has not commented on this information, nor has the Chinese port authorities, underlines the Daily.
Incident: Air France AF393 PEK-CDG returned to Beijing shortly after taking off.
Many passengers reported a loud “boom” and suspected fire.
Pictures are from users on Weibo. pic.twitter.com/TOLGuWTh99
– ChinaAviationReview (@ChinaAvReview) September 18, 2021
According to the Air France press release, the customers have been taken care of by the company “and will be rerouted to Paris as soon as possible”.
“Maintenance interventions will be carried out on the aircraft concerned before it is put back into service,” reassured the carrier, without specifying whether he intended to use the same device for the stranded passengers. The flight was initially expected in Paris at 7.45 am.