JAKARTA – Lion Air’s flight JT330 was forced to return to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta after a fire broke out in its left engine just 32 minutes after departure yesterday evening.
The plane carrying 169 passengers and six crew reportedly took off at 5.14pm local time to Palembang in South Sumatra, when the incident happened.
The Boeing 737-800NG’s pilots declared an emergency and requested an immediate return, before managing to land the plane safely.
“At the altitude of 3,000ft (914m), the pilots felt the operation of one of the airplane’s components was not working,” said a statement from the Indonesian low-cost airline.
Its communications officer Danang Mandala Prihantoro said an investigation was underway.
A photo of the plane with the engine on fire also went viral.
The local news portal, liputan6.com quoted Jakarta Metropolitan Police’s spokesman Endra Zulpan who said the plane had a problem with its left engine.
The passengers were transferred to another plane and took off again at 7.40pm local time, he said. – Bernama, October 27, 2022
