(Antigua Sun) – A full emergency was declared at the airport on Thursday evening after the starboard engine of a cargo plane burst into flames while going down the taxiway.

The aircraft, a Rhoades air cargo vessel was scheduled to leave Antigua for Puerto Rico when the fire started about 6.30 pm.

Fire tenders located at the airport along with airport security quickly responded to the emergency, and the runway had to be closed off.

Speaking to the Antigua Sun, Director of Operations at the airport, Edward Gilkes, said neither of the two crew members on board the craft was injured.

Gilkes said during the emergency, no planes were allowed to leave or land at the airport, as the runway was closed.

The director of operations told the Sun that the emergency response personnel were able to bring the fire under control within 45 minutes to an hour, after which normal flights resumed.
He said no one in the terminal building was affected by the emergency.

Gilkes said the Rhoades air cargo vessel was taken to runway 10 where it has been parked awaiting engineers to arrive from Puerto Rico to assess the damage.