A Qatar Airways jet was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Thursday after one of the engines caught fire after take-off.
The A330 was heading for Doha but was told to back to Ataturk airport at around 30 minutes into its journey.
Dramatic videos captured flames shooting out of the jet’s engine as it returned to the airport.
A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said: ‘Qatar Airways can confirm that today’s QR240 from Istanbul Ataturk Airport (IST) to Doha (DOH) has returned to Istanbul and has landed safely.
‘The passengers have disembarked as normal. The pilot followed all QR safety procedures.’
Mehmet Kirazoglu, who reported the plane landing on Twitter said: ‘I was in Turkish Airlines Technology building nearby the IST airport we heard a strange engine sound over us.
‘When we saw a Qatar Airways plane whose left engine was flaming out.
‘It turned round towards sea, I suppose it drained its fuel [in the] Marmara Sea. Thank god, we have learnt that it landed safely.’
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Picture: Getty
