The air safety watchdog has received no report of an engine fire in a South Coast REX flight, despite passengers and crew reporting a 'red glow' and firefighters reporting fire damage.
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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said a ground inspection was made after the SAAB aircraft made an emergency landing on the evening of Thursday, August 30,
"The aircraft was VH-RXX a SAAB 340 operating ZL139 Moruya to Merimbula," the CASA spokesman said.
"About 15 nautical miles from Merimbula, the pilots shut down the right engine.
"Passengers and cabin crew had seen a red glow from that engine and the crew got a cockpit warning.
"Crew completed the checklists for a single-engine landing during holding near Tathra and then landed safely at Merimbula.
"No evidence of an engine fire (was) seen during an inspection on the ground," the CASA spokesman said.
"(It is) likely the engine had a mechanical problem and the glow was caused by that.
"REX engineers will diagnose the issue and provide a report to CASA as soon as possible."
The spokesman said the information provided was "very clear that there was no fire", but said that was "subject to confirmation from engineers".
However Fire & Rescue NSW said while the plane landed safely with no signs of fire, a subsequent inspection showed damage.
"The plane was inspected and some fire damage was evident in the right hand side (starboard) engine, which had been extinguished by the crew utilising a inbuilt fire protection system," a Fire & Rescue spokesperson said.
"The fire had no effect to the interior of the plane."
Fire crews initially responded with three fire trucks, and a senior officer, and some RFS tankers also attended.
"Crews were in position at the airport prior to the landing ... crews provided fire protection whilst all occupants exited the plane," the spokesperson said.
