North Korean Air Koryo flight makes emergency landing in China

The plane enroute to Beijing from Pyongyang was forced to land after smoke appeared in the cabin.

A North Korean Air Koryo flight caught fire and made an emergency landing in China's northeastern city of Shenyang on Friday.

In a short statement on its microblog, the airport said the plane, belonging to North Korea's national carrier, was flying to Beijing from Pyongyang when it made a forced landing after smoke appeared in the cabin.

According to reports, the aircraft made a safe emergency landing but "nothing abnormal" was found in its conditions. An investigation is underway.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted a passenger saying "the smoke appeared about 30 minutes after takeoff and the flight crew told passengers not to panic".

Xinhua further reported that several passengers began to have breathing trouble because of oxygen shortage in the cabin.

The flight landed within 10 minutes of smoke detection and the airport authorities assured there were no reports of injuries.

Although Air Koryo is frequently listed at the bottom of the United Kingdom's Skytrax star rating system for commercial airlines, it maintained a decent safety record with only one fatal accident in more than 30 years.

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