'Ball of fire': Rex passenger contradicts airline, saying engine burned for five minutes

A passenger on board a Regional Express flight from Sydney to Merimbula which suffered engine failure on Thursday night has contradicted the airline’s claim the engine did not catch fire during the incident. Julian Boot, a passenger on the flight from Sydney to the New South Wales south coast told Guardian Australia on Monday he had been staring at the engine as it “erupted in a ball of fire” during the flight. “I was about three or four metres from the engine, staring down the exhaust pipe, and I was watching a couple of bright sparks coming out,” he said. “Then, literally, the engine erupted in a ball of fire with a big bang. It wasn’t that I heard the noise and looked out the window, I was staring right at it.” Boot’s comments come as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau announced on Monday it had launched an investigation after the Regional Express flight was forced to land with one engine. “The ATSB decided to launch an investigation into the in-flight engine shutdown incident on Friday, after evaluating initial information provided by the operator,” a spokesman said. The Saab 340 aircraft left Sydney at 6.45pm for a two-leg journey that included a stop in Moruya and a second in Merimbula. The plane – which is able to fly with one engine – landed safely and no one on board was injured.<br/>