Cargo Plane Lands After Engine Fire Report, Shutdown

A Northwest Orient 747 cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing at O’Hare International Airport Thursday shortly after takeoff when one of the aircraft’s four engines apparently caught fire and shut down.

The minor fire was reported in the plane’s No. 3 engine, and a metal casing from the engine fell off as the aircraft flew over a wooded area in suburban Glen Ellyn, Marjorie Kriz, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said. No one was injured in the incident.

The engine shut down, and an automatic fire warning light went on inside the aircraft, Kriz said. The pilot activated mechanical fire extinguishers in the engine and landed safely.

DuPage County Sheriff’s officers discovered an 8-by-4-foot metal casing lying in a wooded area about 15 miles west of O’Hare. Several residents reported seeing the metal object fall from the plane, Police Dispatcher Richard Delgado said.