Engine of Russian flight carrying 321 passengers catches fire

The engine of a flight from Thailand to Moscow caught fire as it attempted to take off from a runway on Saturday.

At the time, the Russian Azur Air flight had 321 people on board, and the incident prompted authorities to cancel all flights, according to Euro Weekly.

“After the pilot was informed of the fire, the flight was immediately aborted, as the aircraft was forced to come to a stop,” the outlet said.

The incident allegedly happened at Phuket airport, and in addition to the fire, some of his tires allegedly exploded.

Video footage shows the aircraft descending the runway, however, flames are seen under one wing and moments later smoke appears under the wing.

The aircraft then apparently slowed down on the runway:

The passengers and crew were eventually disembarked and forced to wait on another flight, the Daily mail reported, adding that there had been reports of a “loud bang” when takeoff was in progress.

“Russian airlines are suspected of taking safety shortcuts and seeking to operate aging planes without proper maintenance in the wake of harsh Western sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine,” the outlet continued.

He also claimed that “passengers on board included families of men hiding from Putin’s mobilization decree.”

According to the Euro Weekly article, around 47 flights were affected by what happened and crews worked to repair the plane until 00:30 on Sunday.

“While the aircraft was under repair, other flights had to be diverted to Krabi, Samui and Suvarnabhumi airports, according to airport management,” the report said.

No one among the passengers or flight crew was injured in the incident. The group was brought back to the airport terminal, Aviation24 reported.

The outlet also noted that the tires had been damaged due to hard braking on the track.

Meanwhile, passengers were reportedly given hotel rooms, food and soft drinks while waiting for their flight which was postponed to 12.25pm ​​on Sunday, the outlet said, citing a Russian Telegram account.