Plane engine catches fire just as it was about to take-off from Delhi airport

The engine of a passenger airplane that was just about to take off caught fire at the Delhi airport late Friday night. The aviation regulatorsaid on Saturday that it was probing the incident that happened on an IndiGo airline flight carrying 184 people to Bengaluru.

The plane had just begun its thrust on the runway when the fire was spotted. The pilot immediately returned to the bay and evacuated the cabin. No one was injured and officials said the plane was emptied safely.

"The priority is to carry out a detailed investigation of the incident and ascertain the reasons for the fire in the engine," Arun Kumar, chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told reporters.

"Fortunately, the fire was extinguished swiftly and the aircraft is now grounded."

Passengers recounted the incident and told the media that they heard a loud bang before spotting the flames.

IndiGo said the aircraft experienced a technical issue, "immediately after which the pilot aborted the take-off and the aircraft safely returned to the bay".

"All passengers and crew are safe and an alternative aircraft was arranged to operate the flight, which took off at 12.16 am on Saturday," the company said in a statement.

IndiGo is the country's largest private budget airline and controls almost 60 per cent of the domestic market.

Several such incidents have been reported in the country this year.

Seventeen people were injured when a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai struck turbulence in May. In July, a Dubai-bound plane made an emergency landing in Pakistan due to a faulty cockpit light.

Last month, an Air India Express plane was forced to abort take-off when an engine caught fire at Muscat airport in Oman, leaving several passengers injured.

(With inputs from agencies)