Passenger jet bursts into flames with 241 people on board

Passengers safe after Singapore Airlines jet catches fire

SINGAPORE -- Singapore Airlines said Monday that there were no injuries when a jetliner caught fire after the plane returned to Changi Airport because of an engine warning.

An airline statement said the Boeing 777-300ER, flight SQ368, departed Changi Airport for Milan on Monday when it turned back "following an engine oil warning message."

It said the aircraft's right engine caught fire after Flight SQ368 touched down more than four hours after take-off.

Lee Bee Yee, who was on board the flight with her husband, told Channel NewsAsia that there was a strong smell of fuel on the plane.

"We were sleeping and didn't think too much about it," she added.

The damaged right wing of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER aircraft originally bound for Milan, is seen after a fire was put out, in this still image taken from handout video, at Changi Airport in Singapore June 27, 2016. REUTERS

After the plane landed in Singapore, Yee told Channel NewsAsia that passengers cheered and clapped. Then, there was a spark and there were "huge flames" coming from the right side of the plane, she said.

Mamta Jain, whose husband Amit Jain was on board the flight, told Channel NewsAsia of how, when the flight landed, "the engine was on fire and he could see flames. They were all inside the plane and they could see the right wing burning."

"The fire was put out by airport emergency services and there were no injuries to the 222 passengers and 19 crew on board," an airline statement said.

The airline says the passengers were transferred to another aircraft that was to depart for Milan later Monday.

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