Saudi Arabia’s official team plane caught fire in mid-air as they flew to their next World Cup match on Wednesday.
The Saudi team were on their way to Rostov in preparation for their second Group A match when the incident happened.
Flames were seen from the engine as the Russian Airlines Airbus as they flew in to take on Uruguay on Wednesday.
An official statement read from the football association read: “The Saudi Football Federation wishes to reassure everyone about the safety of all members of the mission of the national team after a minor technical malfunction in an engine.
“The plane landed a few minutes ago at Rostov on Don Airport, and UNOMIG personnel are now safely heading to their residence.”
Videos uploaded to twitter show fire shooting from the engines underneath the wings.
The plane was a Rossiya Russian Airlines Airbus A319-100 and no one was hurt.
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A statement from Rossiya claimed that the preliminary cause of malfunction was a bird flying into the engine – but both were working on landing at Rostov-on-Don.
A Rossiya airlines spokesman said: “As flight FV1007 from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don began to land, the (Airbus) A319 plane suffered a technical fault with one of its engines, with a bird getting caught seen as the preliminary cause.
“Nothing threatened the safety of the passengers. The aircraft’s landing took place in a routine fashion. No warning was sounded during the landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.”
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation then pointed out that the airplane which developed the technical fault was not linked to Saudi Arabian airlines and was provided by the IATA organisational committee for teams participating in the World Cup.
