More than 70 passengers had their flight to Brisbane cancelled on Wednesday when the aircraft they were on caught fire before takeoff at an airport in central Queensland.
Emergency services were called to a “small aircraft fire” at Moranbah Airport – about 2 hours drive from Mackay – just before 6.30pm Wednesday.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Service spokesman said the fire was extinguished before crews arrived but it appeared to be in the tail of the aircraft.
The fire was suspected to have been started by a fuel leak on the exhaust.
All passengers evacuated the plane safely and there were no injuries.
The QFES spokesman said two crews were on scene for about 45 minutes before it was determined to be safe, and was left in the hands of airport authorities and police.
The incident will now be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
“The ATSB is gathering further information about an incident where smoke was observed from the auxiliary power unit of a Fokker 70 while the aircraft was being boarded at Moranbah on Wednesday evening,” a spokesman for the federal government body said.
One passenger explained in a Facebook post that they all had to disembark after smoke started coming from the aircraft.
“So we finish the week away at work with a bit of drama,” Ken Norbury wrote.