Passengers Pray for Safety as Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Singapore

Passengers Pray as Plane Makes Fiery Landing in Singapore

Passengers on board an Indonesia-bound Cathay Pacific Airbus prayed for safety as their plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore with one of its engines ablaze, Reuters reported.

Passengers on board an Indonesia-bound Cathay Pacific Airbus prayed for safety as their plane was forced to make an emergency landing with one of its engines ablaze, Reuters reported Monday.

The Airbus A330-300’s 136 passengers were unharmed, the airline said.

Reuters photographer Beawiharta, who was on board the aircraft with his family, told the news agency that he heard two sharp bangs about 20 minutes after takeoff. Afterwards, the plane began to shake and the lights went out, and Beawiharta said he could smell a burning odor.

His teenage son said he could see fire out the window, the photographer said.

"Behind us, passengers were praying: 'God, save our flight! Give us your protection!'" Beawiharta told Reuters.

Cathay said in a statement that the aircraft's crew received "a stall warning from the No. 2 engine" shortly after it took off.

"The crew shut down the Rolls-Royce engine when they received the alert [and] an emergency landing was declared," the statement said.

The flight landed back at Changi about 45 minutes after it had taken off.

"Upon the landing of the aircraft, Changi Airport's airport emergency service responded immediately with six fire vehicles and extinguished a fire in one of the engines," Cathay said in a statement.

The runway was closed for over an hour due to the incident.

Frightened-looking passengers disembarked onto the tarmac and prayed in a terminal following the ordeal, Reuters reported.

The flight's pilot, Captain Bradley Chic, apologized to passengers following their evacuation and commended them for staying calm, Reuters said.

Cathay Pacific said that it is investigating the incident along with Rolls-Royce.

Two Qantas jets -- one of them an Airbus A380 superjumbo -- made emergency landings at Changi Airport within the space of two days in November last year.

NewsCore contributed to this report.