Malindo Air plane turns back after engine catches fire

PETALING JAYA: Some 49 passengers including Terengganu football team players aboard a Malindo Air flight had a scare when an engine on the aircraft caught fire today.
However, the plane en route to Kuala Terengganu landed safely at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.
Malindo Air's communication officer Raja Sa'adi Raja Amrin said the flight departed from Subang at 7.35am today when the fire broke out five minutes after take-off at about 7,000ft.
"The ATR72-600 twin-engine turboprop aircraft was en route to Kuala Terengganu when the fire was detected on the left side of the aircraft. After the fire detection system was triggered in the cockpit, the pilot, Captain Wong Y.Y., made an immediate turn-back," he told theSun today.
"The aircraft landed safely in Subang at 8.10am without further incident and no one was hurt. All passengers were later transferred to another flight to Terengganu," he said.
The cause of the incident is being investigated and has been reported to the relevant authorities including the engine and aircraft manufacturer.
A Terengganu footballer onboard, Faiz Subri, uploaded images of the engine in flames on his Facebook page.