Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 jet bursts into flames injuring several people

A Tibet Airlines A319 passenger jet left the runway upon takeoff and caught fire in western China injuring several people.

A Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 burst into flames during an aborted take-off May 12, in the southwestern city of Chongqing in China.

It’s every flier’s worst nightmare, but fortunately there were only minor injuries among the 113 passengers and nine crew members, Tibet Airlines said in a statement.

It’s not yet clear exactly what caused the malfunction and subsequent blaze at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport this morning.

The pilots for flight TV9833 – which was due to depart shortly after 8am local time (around 2am CET) on Thursday – interrupted the takeoff after experiencing an abnormality, according to the Chinese aviation regulator. It says this led to an engine ‘scrape’ and fire after the plane veered off the runway.

The plane involved is a nine-year-old A319, one of the smallest versions of the A320 family. It is powered by CFM56 engines from CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Safran, according to Airfleets.net.

Airbus said it was aware of media reports about the incident and was making all efforts to assess the situation.

Mobile phone footage has captured the horrifying moment that the Tibet Airlines plane became engulfed in flames, as passengers ran away on the tarmac – some having been forced to jump from the aircraft.

Emergency plans were activated and investigators rushed to the scene, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said. In total, 36 people suffered bruises and sprains during the evacuation and were sent to local hospitals for examination.

The tragedy of a recent Boeing 737-800 fatal crash shocked a country which had vastly improved its safety record to become one of the best in the world. Prior to the COVID pandemic, China was one of the world’s fastest growing markets for aviation, measured by passenger traffic, during the past decade.