Cathay Pacific flight emergency lands in Singapore

SINGAPORE – The engine of a Cathay Pacific plane caught fire in mid-flight Monday, forcing the jet to make an emergency landing in Singapore. None of the 149 people on board was injured.

The Airbus A330-300 took off from Singapore heading to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in the early hours of Monday but was forced to turn around less than an hour into the flight after engine trouble, Singapore's Changi Airport said in a statement.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and the runway was back in use about an hour later, the airport said.

It was the second time in less than a year that an Airbus plane had to make an emergency landing in Singapore because of engine problems. A Qantas A380 turned around shortly after takeoff on Nov. 4 when one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines blew apart.

Qantas grounded all six of its A380s for 19 days after the accident.

Cathay Pacific and Rolls Royce — who made the Trent 700 engine — are investigating the incident, the carrier said in a statement.

"We can appreciate the concern and anxiety felt by the passengers during the incident, but our captain and his crew were in control of the situation at all times," the Hong Kong-based airline said. "They reacted exactly as they are trained to do, shut down the affected engine and returned the aircraft safely to Singapore."