( dpa ) - Investigators were trying Tuesday to determine why smoke seeped into the passenger cabin of a Hong Kong-bound aircraft after its take-off from Beijing, forcing it to return to the Chinese capital.
The Dragonair Airbus 330 carrying 291 passengers and 13 crew was less than an hour into its flight Sunday when it apparently developed engine trouble and smoke began seeping into the cabin.
Oxygen masks dropped, and some passengers told Chinese newspapers and television stations that they saw sparks coming from the left-side engine.
The plane landed safely, apparently flying on its one good engine, and most passengers were transferred to other Dragonair flights to Hong Kong later in the day.
Civil aviation authorities have asked the Hong Kong-based airline to provide a full report on Sunday's incident. The A330, meanwhile, is undergoing repairs in Beijing.
The cause of the incident is not yet clear, a Dragonair spokeswoman told the South China Morning Post in a report published Tuesday.
Dragonair is Hong Kong's second-largest airline and is owned by the territory's flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific. It flies dozens of mostly short-haul routes to cities across China and South-East Asia.