Fire in Gulf Air aircraft disrupts traffic at Mumbai airport

PTI reports, the engine of a Gulf Air Airbus A321 aircraft with 124 passengers and nine crew caught fire a few minutes prior to its take-off today, disrupting flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai, for about an hour.

"The engine of the Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight GF 065 caught fire just when it was lined up for departure," a spokeperson for airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said, adding that all the people on board the plane are safe.

The aircraft was scheduled to take-off at 19:21 (13:51 GMT)

Immediately, apron control and fire officials rushed to the runway and put out the fire, the spokesperson said.

As a result of the incident, two Air India flights scheduled to land had to make a"go-around" and circle in the skies for some time before the airport could resume full operations.

An Air India official said one of its Chennai-Mumbai flights was diverted to Pune in addition to a Delhi-Mumbai and Bangkok-Mumbai flight being forced to make a "go-around".