BBC:Ambassador in Afghan plane fire (no injuries reported)

[maddezmom]

A British plane with the UK ambassador Stephen Evans on board caught fire on landing at an Afghanistan airstrip.

He and the other passengers on board were unhurt, the Foreign Office said.

~snip~

The British troops are formed around elements of the 16 Air Assault Brigade and some soldiers staying in the capital are part of a reconstruction team.

AP quoted a military spokesman, Sgt Chris Miller saying a tyre burst and the incident was not the result of enemy fire.

more:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5012228.stm

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's better for the plane to catch fire on landing, than take-off. nt

[KeepItReal]

2. That plane had an emergency landing, not a landing then an emergency.

"Britain's newly-appointed ambassador to Afghanistan narrowly escaped death yesterday when he had to scramble from a burning RAF Hercules transport after it made an emergency landing at a remote airstrip in Helmand province.

Stephen Evans, who took up the post only last month, ran clear with his staff and the RAF flight crew as flames engulfed the £35m aircraft near Lashkar Gar, the area's administrative capital.
Spokesmen said the aircraft had burst a tyre on landing and that debris had sprayed up from the runway into an engine, causing the fire.

But Des Browne, the defence secretary, told guests at the Royal United Services Institute in London that the workhorse aircraft had made an "emergency landing", indicating that there may have been a problem before it touched down. "

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/62690.html