An aircraft carrying the Arsenal women’s team back from their Champions League semi-final clash with Wolfsburg has burst into flames on the runway.
The incident occurred on Sunday at the Braunschweig Wolfsburg Airport after a bird flew into the engine shortly before it was due to take off, causing a loud bang.
Flames immediately started to come out of the left engine of the Boeing 737, and the pilots on board quickly evacuated the passengers, including Arsenal’s first team squad, to safety.
Arsenal have released a statement confirming they returned home safely this morning.
The statement read: ‘Our aircraft developed a technical issue prior to take-off in Germany on Sunday evening.
‘As a result, we remained in Wolfsburg overnight on Sunday before flying back to England on Monday afternoon. We would like to thank the staff onboard the aircraft and on the ground at the airport for their assistance.’
The team used a Maltese airline to fly to Germany on Saturday, and were due to fly back with the same airline the following evening.
However, after the engine caught fire, they were forced to switch to a replacement airline to get back to England on Monday morning.
Following their return from Germany, Arsenal can now look forward to trying to seal their place in this year’s Champions League final after fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s first leg.
