Fire forces (East African Air) plane down
 

Fire forces plane down
News24: 28/07/2004

Rome - An East African Air jetliner made an emergency landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport on Wednesday after an engine caught fire, an airport official said. None of the 165 passengers or 10 crew members was injured.

The fire was quickly extinguished by a built-in mechanism on the Boeing 767, said Rome airport official Francesco Cercua. However, it forced the aircraft to return to the Rome airport about 30 minutes after taking off, where emergency staff were waiting.

The plane was flying from Milan's Malpensa airport to the east African island of Zanzibar, and had made a stopover in Rome, said Cercua.

Passengers were taken to a nearby hotel to wait for another flight, he said.