Scared passengers evacuated a plane at Sentani Airport in Papua Province, Indonesia, after one passenger spotted flames billowing from the engine and jumped out of the emergency exit
Passengers ‘leap’ from plane’s emergency exit
Chilling footage has captured the moment terrified passengers jumped out of a plane’s emergency exit after flames began billowing from the aircraft’s engine on the runway.
The Boeing 737-500 aircraft caught fire at Sentani Airport in Jayapura, Papua Province, Indonesia, on November 5, just before take-off sparking chaos onboard. A passenger noticed the fire and panicked, opening the emergency door while screaming to other travellers. And then dozens of spooked flyers followed suit, pushing and shoving their way to the exit on the Trigana Air plane.
A clip shows passengers gathered on the tarmac having left the plane while others shoot down the evacuation slide. The plane, Flight IL237, was bound for the town of Wamena and had 121 passengers on board at the time.
It led to the flight being cancelled while two others were also delayed due to the fire at the airport, as reported by NeedToKnow. Airport security head Iptu Wajedi said that it is normal for there to be flames when the engine is started and that a passenger panicked at seeing it.
He said: “When the exhaust gases hit for the first time, sometimes a fire breaks out. Seeing this, passengers were shocked and tried to escape from the fire. So everyone scattered from the plane in fear.
“All the passengers were able to get off the plane and are now in the waiting room.” He added: “We are trying to find the identity of the passenger who was the first to say that the plane was on fire.”
Airport spokesperson Surya Eka said: “The Trigana Air plane with flight code IL237, a Boeing 737-500 from Sentani Airport in Jayapura to Wamena, was cancelled because a passenger suddenly opened the emergency door when he saw fire coming out of the plane’s engine.”
He said “four passengers were injured” due to the pushing and shoving to get off the plane. The injured travellers were treated at the Health Quarantine Centre.
Eka added: “The incident caused the plane, which was supposed to carry 121 passengers to Wamena, to not take off.” He said they are currently waiting for the National Transportation Safety Committee to carry out an investigation into the cause of the fire.
