Horror moment fire erupts from plane’s engine forcing passengers to leap from jet’s emergency exit onto runway

THIS is the frenzied moment terrified passengers leapt out of a plane’s emergency exit after flames could be seen from the aircraft’s engine.

Four passengers were injured in the mad rush to get off the plane.

The panicked dash to get off the plane came after a spooked passenger opened the emergency door while screaming to other travellers to get off after they noticed the bright orange flames.

Footage shows dozens of spooked flyers leaping off the Trigana Air flight through the emergency exit.

Another video shows passengers gathered on the tarmac while others whiz down the evacuation slide.

The Boeing 737-500 aircraft caught fire at Sentani Airport in Jayapura, Papua Province, Indonesia on Tuesday shortly before it was meant to take off.

There were 121 passengers on board at the time of the terrifying incident.

Following the engine fire, the flight was cancelled and two others were delayed.

Airport security head Iptu Wajedi said: “When the exhaust gases hit for the first time, sometimes a fire breaks out.

“Seeing this, passengers were shocked and tried to escape from the fire.

“So everyone scattered from the plane in fear.”

He said all the passengers were able to get off the plane.

He added; "We are trying to find the identity of the passenger who was the first to say that the plane was on fire.”

Airport spokesperson Surya Eka said the flight was cancelled because a passenger suddenly opened the emergency door when he saw fire coming out of the plane’s engine.

He added: "The incident caused the plane, which was supposed to carry 121 passengers to Wamena, to not take off,” he said.

The injured travellers were treated at the Health Quarantine Centre.

He said they are currently waiting for the National Transportation Safety Committee to carry out an investigation into the cause of the fire.

It's not the first time a Boeing plane has caught on fire, sparking mass panic.

In June a huge Boeing 737 spat flames out of its engine during a botched nighttime landing in New Zealand.

Dramatic pictures showed orange flames bursting from the jet mid-air.

The Boeing took off from Queenstown Airport on Monday evening before "several birds" flew into it - sparking the unexpected fire.

Witnesses on the ground reported hearing "loud bangs" as the plane flew overhead just after 6pm.

One of the passengers said they could even feel the heat from inside the plane and saw it unfurling from their window.

The plane was soon diverted to Invercargill Airport where it made an emergency landing just before 7pm.

Six crew members and 67 passengers were onboard the flight.

The jet's pilot apparently told passengers several birds had hit the engine on their way out of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, frightening footage from May shows streaks of orange flames blasting from a Boeing jet as it took to the air with 450 passengers on board.

The Garuda Indonesia flight - also carrying 18 crew members - was bound for Medina in Saudi Arabia but had to land back at Makassar, Indonesia.

Many of those on board the Boeing 747-400 aircraft were due to take part in the Hajj annual pilgrimage in Mecca.

The aircraft immediately returned to the airport after “fire was observed in one of the engines”, a Garuda Indonesia spokesman said.

It returned to the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport at around 5.15pm on 15 May.

No one on board was injured.