Fire Breaks Out On Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Plane

A Boeing 777-200F cargo aircraft operated by Ethiopian Airlines caught fire on Wednesday at China’s Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). The cause of the fire is not yet known and an investigation is underway. No injuries have been reported.

“Although proper investigation has been started by the country of occurrence and the country of registration and operation, preliminary information revealed that in the final preparation for taxi out, fire was detected in the main deck,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. “The crew reported to ATC and the handling company and asked for help as per the procedure. Meanwhile, the fire spread in the cabin until the handling company and the airport emergency unit arrived at the scene of the incident.”

According to the airline, the fire damaged the “upper structure” of the aircraft. Ethiopian took delivery of the 777, registered ET-ARH, from Boeing in October 2014. The aircraft was on a regularly scheduled cargo run to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile, via Addis Ababa.