Air China flight catches fire

An Air China flight (CA403) that flew from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to Singapore reportedly caught fire when it landed in Changi Airport, with passengers being evacuated from the emergency slides, on Sunday.

The plane, an A320 model, carrying about 150 passengers, landed at Changi Airport at 4:15 pm, with the fire starting in the engine of the aircraft, according to a report from chengdu.cn on Sunday afternoon.

Wang Fu (pseudonym), a passenger on board, said the flight was basically full and thick smoke rose from the cabin a few minutes before landing.

"The thick smoke blurred the lights in the cabin, causing some passengers to try to stand up, while others took out their phones to take photos," said Wang.

The flight attendants had been trying to calm the passengers' emotions, requiring passengers to stay calm and to sit in their seats, Wang said. "The flight attendants were quite professional and has been comforting passengers. And the passengers were relatively calm in their emotions," he said.

"All passengers were safe, except for some minor scratches," he added.

Another passenger on board said the engine caught fire and the smoke came from the cabin for 40 minutes when the plane was landing.

The cabin filled with a pungent odor, but the source of the odor was unknown, and the crew asked everyone to cover their mouths and noses, said the passenger.

"Breathing was difficult, and everyone leaned over and covered their mouths and noses with wet towels, barely breathing...," said the passenger who did not want to be named.

"Fortunately, we made an emergency landing and escaped through the emergency exits," said the passenger.

Air China has confirmed the fire accident took place on its flight from Chengdu to Singapore on Sunday.

An investigation of the case is still going on, said Air China on Sunday evening.