A packed Boeing 747 passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its engines burst into flames during takeoff.
Shocking video shows the jet leaving the runway in Indonesia as an engine explodes in a fireball.
Streaks of flame were spotted shooting out the back of the 747-400 aircraft just after it lifted off the runway with 468 passengers onboard.
The flight, operated by Garuda Indonesia, was departing from the city of Makassar bound for Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Many on the flight were traveling to make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
The incident forced the pilots to immediately circle back after take-off to make an emergency landing.
Thankfully, they were able to safely complete the emergency landing 90 minutes later.
All passengers and crew were evacuated safely.
WATCH:
Garuda Indonesia 747-412 returns safely to Makassar Airport in Indonesia after an engine failure during takeoff. pic.twitter.com/VibKqCQosc
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 15, 2024
The fire is the latest incident involving an aircraft made by Boeing.
The company has come under mounting scrutiny over the safety and quality of its planes.
Last week, scores of passengers were forced to flee a burning Boeing plane after it aborted take-off and veered off the runway in Senegal.
Footage of the incident at Dakar’s Blaise Diagne airport showed passengers screaming as they fled the flames, with 16 people injured.
The accidents follow allegations against the manufacturer by whistleblower Santiago Paredes.
Paredes claims one of Boeing’s largest suppliers regularly allowed aircraft fuselages to leave its factory with up to 200 defects.
He told the BBC that he often found defects in parts being prepared for shipping to Boeing to be used to build planes.
Boeing declined to comment to the BBC on Paredes’s claims.
The claims from Paredes come amid a wave of whistleblower statements.
Two of those whistleblowers have recently died during separate and sudden circumstances.
As Slay News reported, the first to die was John Barnett, a former Boeing employee who was providing evidence for a lawsuit against the company.
Barnett died on March 9 at the age of 62, authorities revealed.
The whistleblower apparently died from what police have described as a “self-inflicted wound.”
Prior to his death, Barnett had “been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company,” per the BBC.
Shortly before he was found dead, Barnett warned that he dies, it is “not suicide.”
A second Boeing whistleblower then died of a sudden illness, as Slay News reported.
Joshua Dean has become the second whistleblower to die suddenly after speaking out to expose the company’s safety flaws.
He was reportedly hospitalized after an unexpected infection triggered a stroke and pneumonia.
There are wider fears that the safety crisis at Boeing may set off a wave of flight cancelations this summer as airlines scramble to secure enough planes.
Avia Solutions, the world’s largest aircraft leasing company, said that European airlines would probably slim down their schedules in the coming months after a slowdown of deliveries in the sector.
Boeing has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident in Indonesia.
READ MORE – Boeing Whistleblower Warned before Death: ‘It’s NOT Suicide’
