An explosive engine failure on a Vietnamese airliner showered fiery debris across a runway at Australia’s second busiest airport Tuesday, bringing all traffic at the airport to a standstill.
The incident happened as Vietnam Airlines Flight 780 was approaching take off on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Melbourne Airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said.
Reacting quickly, the pilot was able to abort the takeoff and safely bring the aircraft to a stop, with the twin-engine Airbus A330 coming to rest at the intersection of the airport’s two runways, blocking all traffic for 40 minutes until 11:30 a.m. local time.
“The issue also resulted in some debris from the plane causing some spot fires on the runaway and surrounding area,” Gillett said.
“There are some rumours that the aircraft itself was ablaze with fire — that’s not the case,” she added.
