Airplane catches fire in China

In the capital city of China, Beijing, a plan caught fire at the international airport at the end of August. The flight was empty, parked at the gate and boarding was about to begin. The flight was scheduled to fly to Tokyo in Japan some time later.

About the aircraft

The aircraft is a A330 that belongs to Air China. The aircraft had arrived at the airport from Singapore two hours earlier. All of a sudden smoke developed, just when the boarding process had commenced. The passengers that had already started boarding were quickly removed. The crew took the necessary measures to prevent a large fire and was successful in doing so. Nobody was injured. The smoke was coming from the cargo compartment of the aircraft. As for now it is unclear what the cause of the fire was and how this could have happened. It is also unclear if an investigation will be owned and if anybody can be to blame. It is also unclear if there is anybody to blame. More details are likely to become public in the next few days. Nonetheless it is clear that the aircraft was severely damaged.

Social media

Many passengers that were waiting to board noticed that smoke and fire was coming from the aircraft. Pictures and videos have been shared on various social media.

Beijing Airport

The fire did not cause any problems at the international airport of Beijing. Other flights, also those at surrounding gates, were able to depart as usual.