Lion Air Boeing plane returns to Jakarta after engine issue

A plane operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air returned to Jakarta airport shortly after takeoff on Wednesday because of engine problems, with unverified photos on social media appearing to show one of the turbines on fire. 

The pilots of the Boeing Co. 737-800 jet experienced “unusual performance” on one of the engine components when the plane -- which had 169 passengers and six crew on board -- reached 3,000 feet, Lion Air said in an emailed statement. The incident occurred shortly after the jet took off from Jakarta at 5:13 p.m. local time.

Engineers and pilots are still conducting checks on the plane, the airline said.

Posts on Twitter that claimed to be of the Lion Air jet showed the left engine ablaze in the air. One photo showed what appeared to be an aircraft engine clogged with ash. Lion Air won’t yet speculate on the cause of the problem, it said in the statement. 

A representative for Boeing declined to comment.

Indonesia’s largest low-cost carrier, Lion Air was embroiled in Boeing’s 737 Max crisis. A 737 Max jet operated by the airline crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta four years ago, killing everyone on board. 

Followed by another deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max five months later, the tragedies saw the plane grounded globally, a hammer blow to the aircraft manufacturer that it’s still recovering from.