A Virgin Australia flight was forced to make an emergency landing after one of the engines catched fire. Flames were spotted shortly after the Boeing 737-800 took off with 67 passengers and six crew members on board.
The flight from Queenstown to Melbourne reportedly experienced engine trouble shortly after take-off on Monday night after a possible bird-strike – an incident not as uncommon in the aviation industry.The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion.Stuart Aggs, the airline’s chief operations officer, said in a statement that they were no physical injuries to guests or crew.The plane safely landed 55 minutes after take-off.Passengers were accommodated in Invercargill overnight and new flights was arranged.The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand’s airports is about four in every 10,000 aircraft movements, the country’s aviation regulator says on its website.The consequences vary in severity depending on where the aircraft is hit, the size of the birds and the pilot’s reaction.According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), there were 5,460 such strikes in the UK between 2017 and 2021.Seagulls, pigeons and swallows are usually the culprits, but usually there is no damaged reported to aircraft.A witness saw the Boeing 737 flying overhead.”It was making one hell of a pulsing/throbbing noise out of one engine then it was shooting flames out – maybe hit a bird?” Nick Lambert said.Another witness said: “Sounded like it was coming apart over our house. One engine was throwing flames and sputtering out.”A passenger on board the flight posted on social media, “Trust me, I could ‘feel’ the flames as we took off.”I’m sitting just behind the wing on the right-hand side. Full view of the light show.”Another posted: “Greetings from Invercargill! Mood is calm in the cabin, a tad shaken but on the ground as fire crews inspect the plane. Can confirm it was a bird strike on the way out.”Shocked witnesses said they saw “flames shooting out the back’ of the plane.’I had a good view as I was walking along the Kawarau River with my dog, so the flames… were quite bright,” Matt Foot said.”The engine sounded as though it was over-revving and it would do that twice, and then shoot flames from right around the back of the jet.”I watched this repeat approximately 12 to 14 times before the plane disappeared around the side of the Gibbston Valley hill. The plane appeared to be struggling to gain speed or altitude.”He said the plane was ‘revving like he had never heard before”, while the initial burst of flames “engulfed the whole back of the jet before going out”.
