An Air China Airbus A330-300 has been significantly damaged, after a fire spread through the forward section of the aircraft.
Registered B-5958, the aircraft was preparing to operate flight CA183 when a fire prompted an evacuation via the front jet bridge.
Videos show crew members briskly walking/jogging through the bridge, with smoke emitting from the aircraft.
Crew evacuated last from the front jet bridge. pic.twitter.com/HM31pj7PRs
— ChinaAviationReview (@ChinaAvReview) August 27, 2019
Beijing Capital International Airport states a black storage container inside the aircraft was producing significant amounts of smoke, however no flames were on-board.
Videos show otherwise, with the upper fuselage burned through and large amounts of smoke coming from the aircraft.
Air China A330 catches fire at Beijing Capital Airport. https://t.co/yQZh8w4m1A pic.twitter.com/pri0NVPURm
— Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) August 27, 2019
Emergency services attending the scene were captured spraying firefighting fluids in the direction of the smoke source.
Updates:
It is being reported that the fire originated in the cargo hold of the aircraft, with heat and flames making their way to the cabin and penetrating the fuselage.
Air China confirmed the incident in a post on Weibo, a Chinese equivalent to Twitter, that read: "Smoke was detected during boarding in the storage unit of flight CA183, which was set to fly from Beijing to Tokyo. Crew members and airport staff have successfully put out the smoke. We are investigating the cause of the incident."
This story is currently developing. More will be added as information becomes clearer/available.
