A Ryanair flight from Frankfurt to Rome’s Ciampino airport ran off the runway as it was landing on Monday, rattling its 166 passengers but causing no injuries, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.
Passengers were evacuated via escape chutes from the plane which was later seen at the end of the runway with one of its engines resting on the tarmac.
First indications pointed to a faulty landing gear on the Boeing 737 as the cause of the accident, but passengers quoted by ANSA later blamed an engine malfunction possibly caused by a bird strike.
“I saw flames coming out of one engine as we were landing, and we were told later that a flock of birds was probably to blame,” Guglielmo Albertini said.
“There was a smell of burning, and there was a little bit of panic among the passengers,” another passenger said. “When we got out we saw traces of blood on the wings.”
The aircraft touched down on the runway, skidded off and then came back on to the tarmac, ending up with one engine on the ground after part of the landing gear collapsed.
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