The New Zealand Fire Service said that a Boeing passenger plane landed safely at an airport on Monday after a fire caused one of its engines to stop.
The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 plane, which was heading to Melbourne, Australia, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire led to its course being diverted.
New Zealand Fire and Emergency Service Supervisor Lynn Crowson said fire engines received the plane upon its arrival in Invercargill about 50 minutes after it took off from Queenstown.
Queenstown Airport spokeswoman Catherine Nind said the cause of the engine fire and the number of passengers on board were not yet known.
Virgin Australia said in an email statement that the incident may have been caused by a “possible bird strike.”
Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is a popular tourist destination on New Zealand’s South Island, famous for its skiing, adventure tourism and alpine scenery.
A few days ago, an Air Canada Boeing 777 passenger plane returned to the airport shortly after take-off due to a fire in its engine.
Air Canada said in a statement that the fire came from the plane, which suffered an “unspecified engine problem” immediately after take-off with 389 passengers on board.
It quickly turned around and made an emergency landing at Toronto Airport, where it was received by firefighters.
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