Stricken Portuguese airliner ‘rains debris’ on cars

A Portuguese airliner suffered engine failure shortly after taking off from Lisbon early on Saturday, scattering debris on cars below and forcing it to turn around.

The TAP Portugal Airbus 330 had just begun its journey to Sao Paulo in Brazil with 268 passengers on board when smoke was seen coming from one of the engines.

“Debris from the engine fell on cars and a house, but no passengers were injured,” a police spokesman told AFP.

The plane made an “uneventful landing” at Lisbon airport shortly after the incident, a TAP spokesman said.

“A huge plume of smoke came from one of the engines and a rain of debris hit cars,” a young woman who witnessed the incident told local television.

On Tuesday, another Airbus plane belonging to TAP was flying between Lisbon and Amsterdam when it had to land at Paris’s Orly airport after suffering cabin depressurisation.

Delays in the delivery of six Airbus aircraft that TAP acquired from other airlines have led to a series of flight cancellations in recent months.

TAP has recently seen significant growth in its operations.

During the first half of this year it flew 5.2 million passengers, 7.2 percent more than in the same period last year. It also opened 11 new routes this summer, including four to Latin America.