Six passengers were injured early on Sunday morning as a SWISS flight from Delhi to Zurich suffered an engine failure on the runway. The aircraft had been accelerating for takeoff when one of the engines failed and caught fire. The crew had initiated an emergency evacuation as smoke and flames billowed out of the plane.

Visuals shared online showed officials spraying water as lights flashed on emergency vehicles parked on the tarmac. Passengers and crew members were seen evacuating the flight using emergency slides — some rushing frantically away from the plane while others paused to snap a selfie. A separate Times of India report added that a fire had broken out after the engine failure.

‘Engine failure during takeoff’

Tracking data from Flightradar24 suggests the plane had been travelling at a speed of 104 knots when the engine failed. According to an IANS report, the Airbus A330 had 232 passengers and several crew members on board. Flight LX147 had been taxing for takeoff at 1:08 am when the pilots reported an issue with the engine. Runway 28 of the Indira Gandhi ‌International Airport was later closed for use till the plane could be removed from the area.

“We are aware of an incident involving flight LX147 in Delhi. The aircraft involved is an Airbus A330 (HB-JHK). SWISS has established a task force. There were 228 passengers and 4 infants on board. Shortly after takeoff, just after 1 am local time in India, an issue occurred with one of the engines,” SWISS said in a statement.