JEDDAH, 26 March 2008 — More than 300 passengers aboard a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight escaped unhurt yesterday after their Boeing 747 jet caught fire as it landed in Bangladesh.
The 307 passengers and 19 crew were evacuated after airport officials spotted flames coming from the right wing of the aircraft as it touched down at Dhaka’s Zia International airport.
“Air force officials and firefighters stationed at the airport managed to extinguish the fire within half an hour and all passengers were evacuated before any damage was done,” said Shakeb Iqbal Khan Majlish, head of the Civil Aviation Authority in Bangladesh.
Authorities have ordered an investigation into the incident, he added. The flight originated in the Saudi city of Madinah.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in the Kingdom confirmed the report and said the Boeing 747 aircraft was rented by Saudi airlines from Air Atlanta, adding that the plane’s third engine caught fire while it was landing in Dhaka at 08.24 GMT. “No passenger was hurt during the evacuation and the plane has been towed away from the accident spot and parked at the airport’s tarmac,” the GACA said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
