Arsenal women’s team plane on Sunday evening burst into flames on the runway in a German airport.
OsunDaily News learnt that the plane was to carry the Arsenal women’s team back from their Champions League semi-final first leg against Wolfsburg.
The incident occurred at the Braunschweig Wolfsburg Airport after a bird flew into the engine shortly before it was due to take off.
According to a report by Daily Mail, after the bird flew into the engine it caused a loud bang.
The pilots on board quickly evacuated the passengers, including Arsenal’s first team squad, to safety when flames started to come out of the left engine of the Boeing 737.
Arsenal in a statement released on Monday confirmed they returned home safely on Monday.
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 flew to Germany on Saturday using a Maltese airline and were due to fly back with the same airline the following evening.
After the engine caught fire, the Arsenal women’s team were forced to switch to a replacement airline to get back to England on Monday morning.
Arsenal women’s team fought back to earn a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s first leg.
The Gunners got off to the worst possible start as they fell two goals behind to their German opponents within 24 minutes.
However, Rafaelle Souza pulled a goal back for the visitors on the stroke of half-time, and Arsenal made it 2-2 through Stina Blackstenius with 21 minutes remaining.
Arsenal’s comeback was a positive response after a difficult week when they were beaten by Manchester United in the league, in a game that saw Leah Williamson pick up a long-term knee injury that has ruled her out of the World Cup.
The return leg against Wolfsburg takes place next Monday at the Emirates Stadium.
