Video: Flight engine catches fire, passengers chant prayers, sob mid air in Nigeria

Lagos: Passengers in a flight in Nigeria sobbed and chanted prayers after a technical glitch in the plane’s engines allegedly caused it to catch fire and fill with smoke.

According to a report in Daily Mail, a video showed chaos in the cabin of an Aero Contractors flight as thick smoke filled the plane’s cabin for at least 20 minutes, forcing authorities to make an emergency landing in Abuja.

Minutes after take off, the plane started wobbling in the air due to technical glitches and thick smoke started erupting from the plane’s engine, the report said.

Recounting the horror, passenger Ishaq Akintola claimed: “We saw smoke outside the plane, probably coming from the engine compartment”.

Akintola further said: “The whole plane was thrown into commotion. People screamed, some fainted. Prayers upon prayers were offered. Some shouted Allah, others Jesus”.

Commending them for being professional, passengers said crew helped them and asked them to remain calm during the incident.

Speaking to the media, an Aero Contractors official said, “There was depressurisation in the aircraft cabin, leading to the dropping of oxygen masks”.