There's a bit of news amongst all the normal drivel
Plane engine blows up
Egypt air flight aborts take-off
Johannesburg - Two women cancelled their tour to Egypt outright, a third will never sleep in a plane again, and the rest of the passengers of flight MS 840 demand compensation.
These South Africans' dream holiday turned into a nightmare when an engine of the airbus they were already seated in, broke down on the runway moments before takeoff from Johannesburg International airport.
"We heard the first explosion and flames burst from the engine. Two more explosions followed, and then the engine blew up. I saw pieces of steel flying and the grass (next to the runway) caught fire," Cathy Booyzen (36) of Volksrust said on Friday.
The Egypt Air flight was about to take off when the pilot suddenly brought it to a standstill using the handbrake. "The tyres burst into flames - we could hear and feel it, as the whole plane shook. We went crazy. It was terrible!" she said.
The passengers and crew had to remain on board while emergency rescue personnel doused the flames, said Tienie van Wyk (74) of Ventersburg. "The stewardesses told us to sit down and be calm - and that while the plane was burning! We almost had a fit, we thought it was a bomb."
Returned home
Passengers and crew then hurriedly evacuated the plane by means of an emergency shute. Non-Johannesburg residents were booked into nearby hotels at Egypt Air's expense at 01:20 on Friday morning.
The passengers reassembled at the airport at 12:30 on Friday for a rescheduled Egypt Air flight. They were somewhat wary and one of them suggested they write letters demanding "compensation".
"Two friends who were supposed join us on the tour got such a fright that they returned home to Port Elizabeth," said Van Wyk said. "I will never sleep on a plane again, I will be watching the engines all the time," Booyzen said.
The airbus remained on the runway until late on Friday as it couldn't be moved due to the damaged tyres.
Investigators were on the scene on Thursday night to determine why the second engine blew up, said Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Trevor Davids. "The tyres gave out due to the severe heat between the tyres and the runway during the sudden braking," he said.
Two SAA flights to Frankfurt and London were cancelled after the incident. Several other flights to and from Johannesburg Airport were delayed by up to 30 minutes because the airbus blocked one of the runways.