Fuel leak behind Air India flight fire: Experts

Mumbai, Sep.4 (ANI): Aviation experts on Friday said that a fuel leak from the wings of an Air India flight caused one of the engines to catch fire.

Ruling out the possibility of a technical snag leading to the grounding of the aircraft at Mumbai Airport on Friday morning, the experts said the fuel leaked onto the heated engines of the aircraft and that had caused the fire.

Had it not been detected, they said it could have led to a major catastrophe in the air.

They said that timely information provided by a passenger led the crew to stop the flight from taxing off the runway for Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Flight 829 was immediately grounded when sparks were detected flying out of one of the engines.

The 213 passengers onboard were evacuated by slides to safety. Four fire engines were rushed to the spot, as also other equipment and personnel. (ANI)