Flight diverted: ‘engine fire’

A Hong Kong bound Cathay Pacific flight was reportedly forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off from Perth overnight.

Passenger Joel Sirna told Perth Radio 6PR he heard a loud bang then saw sparks and flames streaming from an engine.

Cathay Pacific Flight CX170 has been diverted to Denpasar in Bali, according to the ABC.

“The aircraft landed safely … fire services met the aircraft on arrival”, the West Australia reported.

Flight CX170, an Airbus A330, had 254 passengers on board, and 13 crew members.

“There were a few people that were pretty shaken”.

“There was no fire on board, and no passengers or crew were injured”, the statement read. “The girl next to me started freaking out and crying”.

“We were stuck sitting there for about two hours until we could actually get off the plane”.

“The pilot announced the issue and stated we will be making an emergency landing in Bali in approximately 10 minutes. We couldn’t see the flames any more so we were hoping it was all good”, Sirna said.

“We had to wait in the plane on the tarmac for two hours before being able to leave the plane and all passengers had to pay for an Indonesia entry visa to collect our baggage which we were told could be reimbursed later”.

“Safety remains Cathay Pacific’s highest priority”, the spokeswoman said on Friday. Mr Sirna, who will continue on to New York as planned with the rest of his group of six, took to Facebook to describe his ordeal. Cathay Pacific extended its apologies to passengers for the inconvenience and is investigating the incident.

“Some passengers are staying in hotels while others switched to other flights”, said Ketut Yudarsana, an official at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it had not been notified of the incident.