Tibet Airlines plane bursts into flames during takeoff in southwest China

A Tibet Airlines Airbus A319-100 veered off the runway and burst into flames during takeoff at an airport in Southwest China this morning. All 113 passengers were safely evacuated although 36 passengers suffered minor injuries, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC. China’s aviation regulators are investigating the cause of the incident.

In a statement posted on Weibo, Tibet Airlines said the plane faced “abnormalities” on the runway, so the pilot aborted the takeoff, but didn’t provide any further details. The plane was set to fly from Chongqing Jiangbei Airport in southwest China to Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Videos on social media show the 9 year old Tibet Airlines aircraft, a subsidiary of Air China, engulfed in a huge cloud of black smoke. Evacuated passengers can be seen running from the plane.

The CAAC provided the following…