Zimbabwean Boeing 767 catches fire after takeoff

A Harare-bound Zimbabwean airliner requested an emergency landing and circled around the airport near Johannesburg, South Africa, after its engine suddenly caught fire shortly after takeoff.

A video released to the media shows bright flames bursting out of the aircraft’s left engine as it is flying in the night skies above Johannesburg. The engine caught fire shortly after an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767-200 took off from the O.R. Tambo International Airport, near Johannesburg, on Sunday night. The pilots quickly requested an emergency landing. But the flames were “manually extinguished” mid-air, the spokesperson for the Airport Companies South Africa said, so no emergency landing was needed. After circling around the airport, the plane made it safely to Harare, the capital of neighboring Zimbabwe. “There was a tail pipe fire but that did not compromise the safety of the flight,” the airline told local media after the incident. Officials of the airline said the plane had hit birds after takeoff in mid-air. The bird strike caused fire in the jet’s engine unsettling some passengers. We were all visibly shaken as loud blowing sounds and sparks came from the affected engine on impact, but the pilot Captain Chiwara and his crew were true professionals a passenger said.

Air Zimbabwe assures

In a statement, Air Zimbabwe said the incident did not threaten the safety of passengers and crew.
“Air Zimbabwe wishes to inform the public that their Boeing 767-200ER servicing flight UM462 (JNB/HRE) on 28 April 2019 experienced a malfunction on one of its engines resulting in a brief tail pipe fire.
“However, the malfunction did not threaten the continuation of the flight and safety of the crew and passengers on board and it landed safely in Harare at 2035hrs,” the company said in the statement.


Bird strikes occur during take-off and landing and can pose a significant risk to aviation.


Aircraft Information
Airline: Zimbabwe
Code: UM AZW
Aircraft: B767-2NO
Registration: Z-WPF
Serial Number: 24867
Engines: 2 x PW - PW4056
First Flew: 27/09/1990
Age: 28 Yrs 6 Mts




Story sourced from here with additions
https://www.rt.com/news/457795-air-zimbabwe-boeing-incident/

Sydney Spotting - Part three

Last night I stayed in a hotel on the airport boundary so this morning I got up very early and got to the viewing deck at Sheps Mound around 6.30am and stayed to just after 7.30am. The sun finally broke through the clouds around 6.50am but then a huge wave of smoke had engulfed the airport making taking photos difficult.

FEDEX MD 11 N610FE (CN 48603)

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VZF (CN 34200)
TO MELBOURNE

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA A330-243 VH-XFJ (CN 1561)
FROM PERTH

FIJI AIRWAYS B737-8X2 DQ-FJG (CN 29968)
TO NADI

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBA (CN 508)
FROM PERTH

CHINA SOUTHERN A330-343 B-6112 (CN 0937)
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ETIHAD B777-3FX A6-ETN (CN 39689)
FROM ABU DHABI

CAPITAL AIRLINES A330-343 B-305R (CN 1880)
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QANTAS B787-9 VH-ZNB (CN 39039)
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QANTAS A380-861 VH-OQL (CN 074)
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DELTA B777-232 N705DN (CN 29742)
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AIRPORT SAFETY CAR 10

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TO MELBOURNE

ASIANA AIRLINES B777-28E HL-8254  (CN 40198)
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GULFSTREAM GV-SP 550 N550PL (CN 5218)

THAI B747-4D7 HS-TGZ (CN 28706)
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SPORTING THE "LAUNCESTON AIRPORT" LIVERY

AIR NEW ZEALAND A320-271NEO ZK-NHB (CN 8803)
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GARUDA A330-343 PK-GPU (CN 1560)
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JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGF (CN 4497)
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VIETNAM B787-9 VN-A868 (CN 29288)
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FROM BANGKOK

Sunday Spotting - Part Two

After having a few hours rest at the hotel I went back out again to get some of the late afternoon arrivals, especially one arrival I was really looking forward to... the Singapore B787-10 making its very first visit to Sydney. Daylight savings has finished now and it gets dark around 5.30pm at the moment. The 787 arrived about 10 minutes after the sunset.

ROYAL DOCTOR SERVICE SUPER KING AIR 200C
VH-AMS (CN BL-168)

QANTAS FREIGHT B767-381 VH-EFR (CN 33510)
TO AUCKLAND



QATAR B777-3DZ A6-BEE (CN 60331)
TO DOHA

AIR NEW ZEALAND B787-9 ZK-NZH (CN 37964)
TO AUCKLAND



JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQE (CN 3495)
TO MELBOURNE

QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQG (CN 047)
TO SINGAPORE

UPS B747-44A N577UP (CN 35666)
FROM HONOLULU

JETSTAR B787-8 VH-VKG (CN 36232)
MELBOURNE - HONOLULU AS JQ 1

QANTAS B747-438 VH-OEH (CN 32912)
FROM HONOLULU

FEDEX MD11 N522FE (CN 48476)
FROM HONOLULU

SINGAPORE B787-10 9V-SCC (CN 60258)
FROM SINGAPORE

QATAR A38-861 A7-APB (CN 143)
FROM DOHA

ETIHAD A380-861 A6-API (CN 233)
FROM ABU DHABI