CHENNAI:
A major incident was averted at Chennai airport on Tuesday when an inbound international cargo aircraft suffered an engine fire during landing but managed to touch down safely, with no injuries reported.
According to official sources, the flight originated from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was approaching Chennai when the emergency occurred. The blaze broke out in the aircraft’s fourth engine during its landing phase, prompting the pilots to act immediately and alert ground authorities.
“The crew followed standard emergency procedures and informed the air traffic control about the engine fire. The fire and rescue teams at the airport were kept on standby to respond the moment the aircraft landed,” an official source confirmed.
The plane got safely on the agreed runway, where rescue personnel surrounded it soon after. The affected engine in which the fire started was successfully contained without allowing it to extend to other sections of the aircraft. Specialised firefighting teams responded in time and extinguished the fire with specialised equipment. The source added that there were no injuries among the crew personnel or damage on cargo.
The airport authorities commended the timely response of the cabin crew as well as the on land emergency response. This was a well organized one. At that, the pilots displayed the cool head in a stressful situation, and our fire brigade reacted to the incident with great precision. This might have been a nightmare, but it was the prompt action of the authorities that saved the day according to a senior airport official.
According to the standards of aviation safety, the damaged plane was towed into a safe bay under which it was thoroughly inspected. Technical teams started to analyze the damage on the engine in order to understand what was the cause of fire. We are collaborating to know what caused the incident. The security of staff and cargo comes first to us always,” stated the official.
The case resulted in a short-term operation halt of Chennai airport as one of the runways was temporarily shut down to grant emergency response. The schedules of flights were not compromised after a short time and the officials in charge of the airport assured all that standards of safety are well applied even in the occurrence.
Even though the cargo plane was not in passenger service, the incident brought into focus the fact that safety precautions have to be adhered to in full in the operations of air cargo devastating planes. Experts in the field of aviation observe and state that particular attention to dealing with malfunctions in the engine during the plane flight in a timely and quick manner is important to avoid cases of accidents.
At this point, avoiding the aircraft being unsafe in further operations, the technical investigation should be completed until now. Police officers have asserted that they will check the report of the incident with the aim of establishing some ways of enhancing the emergency response efforts.
The quick resolution of the crisis, without injury or major damage, has been described as a testament to the preparedness and professionalism of Chennai airport’s safety teams and the skill of the flight crew.
