Cancun, Q.R. — A flight departing Cancun was delayed after the plane’s engine experienced a brief fire. On Sunday night, Aeroméxico flight 549 suffered a fire in its left engine after colliding with a bird.
The plane had just begun down the runway when the incident occurred, shaking up passengers who saw the explosion of flames erupt from the engine. A female passenger recorded the exact moment of the incident.
Through a statement, Aeromexico said that the flight captain aborted the takeoff “to attend to an engine failure caused by a bird strike during the takeoff run.”
“Following Aeroméxico security protocols, the Captain of flight AM549, operated with a B787-8 equipment, which covered the Cancun-Mexico City route, aborted takeoff at the International Airport from Cancun to attend to an engine failure caused by a bird strike during takeoff.”
The company said that “the aircraft is being serviced and customers will be relocated to another flight so they can reach their destination.” The flight was aborted and passengers loaded onto another plane.