An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777 cargo plane caught fire while loading cargo at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Wednesday.
The airline said that the cause of the incident is currently under investigation, adding that none of the crew or ground staff involved were harmed.
The 777, registered ET-ARH, was set to operate a scheduled cargo service from Shanghai to Sao Paulo before heading onwards to Santiago. However, fire broke in the aircraft’s cabin and flights bound for the airport were forced to divert to Shanghai Hongqiao.
Pictures and videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed heavy smoke pouring from the fuselage, with a large section of the body’s aft appearing scorched.
Breaking: An Ethiopian Airlines 777F cargo plane has caught on fire at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China. pic.twitter.com/hUjligdLUF
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) July 22, 2020
Data from flight tracking site Flightradar24 shows that the aircraft had recently landed in Shanghai after operating flight ET3738 from Brussels.
INCIDENT An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777F was severely damaged after it caught fire at Shanghai Podong Airport https://t.co/r4qJewU5rb
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) July 22, 2020
