KUALA LUMPUR: Passengers on a Trigana Air flight at Sentani Airport in Jayapura in the Papua province of Indonesia scrambled to safety when flames erupted from one of the aircraft's engines moments before takeoff.
According to Australian news agency news.com.au, the incident unfolded on Tuesday when a passenger noticed the fire, triggering panic and an emergency evacuation.
Reports indicate the passenger opened an emergency door, shouting for others to follow.
Chaos ensued as dozens of passengers on the Boeing 737-500 bound for Wamena rushed to escape, pushing and shoving their way to the exit.
Footage showed passengers assembling on the tarmac, some sliding down the evacuation chute to safety.
The flight, scheduled as IL237 with 121 passengers, was cancelled due to the incident, which also delayed two other flights.
Airport security head Iptu Wajedi was quoted as saying, when exhaust gases hit for the first time, sometimes a fire breaks out.
"Seeing this, passengers were shocked and tried to escape from the fire. So everyone scattered from the plane in fear," he said.
Iptu said all the passengers were able to get off the plane and the airport was trying to identify the individual who was first to alert about the fire.
Airport spokesman Surya Eka said the flight was cancelled because a passenger suddenly opened the emergency door when he saw fire coming out of the plane's engine.
"Four passengers were injured due to the pushing and shoving to get off the plane," Surya said as the injured travellers were treated at the Health Quarantine Centre.
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee is investigating the cause of the fire.