Engine fire scare for passengers on Sichuan Airlines flight to Chengdu
The plane involved in the January 21 incident.
A Sichuan Airlines plane experienced an engine sending out flames during climb-out on January 21. The plane returned to land safely at the airport in the northeastern city of Changchun after circling for nearly two hours.
No injuries were reported, Sichuan Airlines said on Monday.
The Airbus A321-211 was operating flight 3U8424 from Changchun to Chengdu which took off at 12:44pm, according to flight tracking application Umetrip.
Shortly after takeoff, the right-side engine emitted a series of bangs and flames. The aircraft declared an emergency and opted to return. It landed at Changchun Longjia International Airport at 14:33pm, according to a member of the airline's customer service staff.
The right-hand engine was seen to emit flames.
Passengers were transferred to a replacement aircraft to continue their journey, the staff member said.
According to the Umetrip report, the plane circled over Changchun 16 times at an altitude of 2400 meters north of its downtown area, which took nearly two hours.
Li Hanming, a civil aviation expert, said fire in an airplane engine could be caused by a variety of factors, and it was currently difficult to determine the specific cause in this case.
"Most airplane accidents are controllable, and airlines have mature procedures in place to handle various emergencies," Li said.
