An IndiGo airline passenger who meant to record her plane taking off instead captured video of an engine catching fire as the aircraft sped down the runway in Delhi on Friday night.
In the video, the passenger can be heard saying “oh, s***” as the fire blossomed outside the passenger cabin of the Airbus A-320.
WARNING: The following video contains strong language that some viewers will find offensive.
#Ongoing Yesterday, Indigo Flight 2131, an A320 aborted takeoff in Dehli (India) due to engine problems. All 184 aboard were unharmed. Crew rejected takeoff at low speed after #2 engine failed, jet vacated the runway without any incident. pic.twitter.com/rIzNvLgwXm
— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) October 29, 2022
Passenger Priyanka Kumar told NDTV the plane was at “full speed” when sparks began appearing “just before take-off.”
“The flight would have taken off in another five to seven seconds when I saw sparks coming out … and suddenly it turned into a blaze of fire,” she said.
The pilot immediately throttled back, Kumar said.
Firefighters arrived and the plane was wheeled off the runway.
“The fire was put out immediately,” Kumar said.
“There was panic initially. But the crew comforted us. There was no sudden jerk while stopping, too,” she added.
“The pilot told us it was an engine malfunction.”
The airline explained in a statement that the plane “experienced an engine stall during take-off roll,” according to Fox News.
“The take-off was aborted and the aircraft safely returned to the bay,” the statement said.
At first, Kumar said, “the crew gave water to the passengers. There were a lot of elderly people, a lot of children on the plane.”
Eventually, the passengers deplaned. There were 184 people onboard — 177 passengers and seven crew members, NDTV reported.
The incident took place at about 9:45 p.m and the passengers exited the aircraft around 11. The alternate flight provided to the passengers left the airport a little after midnight.
India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has ordered an investigation into the incident, according to Asia News International.
