A Virgin Australia flight bound for Melbourne from New Zealand was forced to make an emergency landing 50 minutes after taking off, due to one of its engines catching fire.
The background: The fire caused the engine to shut down, with the Boeing 737-800 jet altering its route to land in Invercargill, shortly after its departure from Queenstown.
Fire services met the aircraft at Invercargill Airport. Queenstown Airport spokesperson Catherine Nind said it was not immediately known how many people were on board the aircraft or what caused the fire.
Virgin Australia released a statement shortly after the plane landed safely in Invercargill saying all passengers would receive free accommodation overnight and new flights to Melbourne would be arranged for them.
The key quote: “At this time, we are not aware of any physical injuries to guests or crew,” said Virgin Australia chief operating officer Stuart Aggs.
Aggs said the incident may have been caused by a “possible bird strike”.
What else to know: New Zealand’s aviation regulator says the rate of birds hitting planes at NZ’s airports about is four in 10,000.
Source Agencies
