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Fire forces emergency evacuation of 184 Ryanair passengers
Oct. 3 (UPI) — More than 180 passengers were forced to evacuate a Ryanair Boeing passenger jet when it caught fire Thursday on the runway at Brindisi airport in southern Italy, officials announced.
Passengers used emergency slides to exit the plane after flames were visible under one of the wings. The plane, a Boeing 737-8AS, had been cleared for takeoff when flames were seen under one of the wings, apparently coming from one of the plane’s engines, which is what prompted the emergency evacuation of 184 people, officials at the airport reported.
“Flight FR8826 from Brindisi to Turin (3rd Oct) was delayed this morning after cabin crew observed fumes on the outside of the aircraft. Passengers were disembarked without incident and returned to the terminal by bus,” the airline said in a statement to CNN.
Flights at the airport were temporarily suspended following the incident, the airport posted on X.
Passengers were later rebooked on a different aircraft to make their journey.
The flight was supposed to be headed to the northern Italian city of Turin. There were no reported injuries, but it was the second safety incident this week involving Ryanair jets, which prompted concerns among Italian lawmakers.
Two days prior to that incident, a blown tire on another of the airline’s Boeing planes during landing led to the temporary closure of Milan Bergamo Airport.
Some Italian lawmakers called for an investigation into the low-cost carrier’s safety record, citing a number of earlier Ryanair incidents in the country.
“We have therefore asked for an urgent hearing in the Transport Commission at the Chamber of ENAC leaders, with a focus on the safety of Ryanair flights, which — it is worth remembering — is the leading carrier in Italy for passenger traffic,” said a statement from the country’s National Civil Aviation Authority, known as ENAC.
The statement also pointed to other incidents including one in May when technical problems forced a flight from an Italian port city bound for London to turn around. There was another that same month that left Bologna headed for Brussels but had to make an emergency landing in Luxembourg because of an onboard fire.
“And these are just some of the many, too many accidents that have involved Ryanair in recent months, in Italy and Europe,” the statement continued.
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