Plane passengers sat in shock when a plane’s engine burst into flames on the runway moments before take off.
The GOL Airlines Flight 2040 was readying for its internal flight from the Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Porto Alegre on 4 May.
Moments before it was due to depart a “technical problem” caused flames to erupt from the engine and the flight was aborted.
Luckily no passengers were hurt in the incident and the runway was shut off for only an hour.
GOL Airlines said the technical issue was detected in time and all emergency protocols were followed by the pilots and crew.
A spokesman for the airline said: “GOL reports that this Thursday, Flight G3 2040, operating the Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre route at 5.20pm, had its take off interrupted after a technical failure was detected in engine two.
“The decision was taken while taxiing at low speed during the first stretch of the runway at Santos Dumont Airport.
“The crew followed the established procedures and returned to the parking position to disembark, which occurred without incident.
“To minimise the impact on customers, the company is offering places on the next flights.”
Passengers affected by the incident were found seats on other flights departing the area.
A spokesperson for aviation authority Infraero added: “Operations at Santos Dumont Airport were suspended between 5:27pm and 6:26pm on 4 May due to debris left on the runway by an aircraft from the airline GOL, which encountered a problem during takeoff.
“There were no injuries. Maintenance and operations teams promptly carried out an inspection and the cleaning of the runway.”
An investigation into the technical issue is ongoing.
It comes as passengers travelling from the Hawaiian island of Molokai to Oahu heard a loud explosion and began praying for their lives when a plane engine fell off mid-air.
Iolani Kuoha, the vice-principal of a school , was escorting children for a conference when she heard a "really loud" noise.
Despite the engine failure, the Southern Airways Express plane continued its flight for another 20 minutes before landing safely in Honolulu.
Iolani said of the incident: “I didn't want to freak out. I didn't want to stress out the students, so I tried to be as calm as I could."
Her daughter Ōlelo Hamakua-Poepoe added: "I was like, oh my God. I better start praying. I was very, very shocked and worried."
