The HiSky Europe Airbus A320 had left the capital of Bucharest at 6:47pm on March 3, bound for Oradea International Airport in the western part of the country
Romania: Plane engine explodes just moments into flight
New footage has captured the terrifying moment a plane engine explodes into a fireball – just 17 minutes after taking off from an airport in Romania.
A HiSky Europe Airbus A320 had left Bucharest Airport at 6:47pm on March 3, bound for Oradea International Airport in the western part of the country. But flight H4762 suffered a sudden engine failure during its ascent, with lights from the capital city below still visible from footage captured by passengers.
The heart-stopping footage shows flames shooting from the left wing as the plane glided above Bucharest. A loud rumbling could be heard from inside the jet – but the passengers on board were eerily quiet. Sorin Balogh, on board at the time, said fliers were ‘too shocked to react’ as the left side of the plane glowed orange.
However, the skilled pilot turned the aircraft back and managed an emergency landing at Henri Coanda International Airport Luckily, no injuries were reported but the plane was taken out of service for checks. Mr Balogh said that the Mayor of Oradea was on board at the time, seated a few rows behind.
After the incident, he contacted the former mayor, who helped arrange accommodation for the affected passengers, he said. An Aviation Safety Network incident report said the HiSky Europe flight H4762 “suffered an engine failure on departure from OTP.” It added: “The aircraft returned to land for a safe landing, 17 minutes after takeoff.”
Following departure, the aircraft had climbed to 5000 feet before flight crew terminated the departure procedure. A direct return for landing was then carried out. Prior to its present service it was operated by Indian airline Vistara from its initial delivery from the factory in September 2014.
HiSky is privately owned airline and has operated regular and charter passenger flights from Romania and the Republic of Moldova to more than 20 domestic and international destinations since 2021.
It comes after a flight attendant aboard a Swiss aircraft that made an emergency landing in Austria due to smoke in the cabin died, according to a statement from Swiss International Airlines. According to the airline, the incident occurred on December 23 while on a flight from Bucharest, Romania to Zurich, Switzerland.
The airline issued a statement that the flight was diverted to Graz, Austria after reports began to trickle in that the plane had suffered engine problems and smoke filled the cockpit and the cabin. According to the statement, all 74 passengers aboard the Airbus A220-300 were evacuated after flight LX1885 landed safely.