Advertisement

British Airways jet engine catches fire

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A British Airways 747 jet carrying 300 people made an emergency landing at New York's Kennedy Airport after one of its engines caught fire following takeoff.

No one was injured in the incident Thursday night on the London-bound Flight 116, whose aborted flight ended 12 minutes after takeoff, reports the New York Post.

Advertisement

Passenger Wayne Audrain from England told the Post he saw sparks fly from one of the two left engines.

"Everyone was very calm and very reassuring and not a lot of people noticed, but I was scared," he said.

Firefighters were summoned to the runaway by air traffic controllers who had reported the flames, the report said.

New York Port Authority spokesman John McCarthy said the captain of the flight was able to release fire-extinguishing chemicals that put the flames out before the plane landed. The cause of the blaze is not yet known.

Latest Headlines