I fly quite often and within last few years I definitely heard about more airplane accidents than ever!

An aeroplane carrying 230 people, including passengers and crew, was involved in a terrifying landing earlier today following a catastrophic equipment failure.

A fire appeared to break out in the starboard engine of the Boeing 767, captained by Tadeusz Wrona, who has been hailed a hero by Poland’s President Bronisław Komorowski, as it skidded along the tarmac on its belly before coming to a halt at Warsaw airport earlier today.

Incredibly nobody was injured in the crash and emergency services were waiting at the end of the runway to deal with any potential disaster. Fire crews swiftly dealt with a fire in one of the engines while all the people on board escaped without injury.

The pilot radioed ahead to let the control tower know there was a problem with deploying the landing gear. After several attempts, however, it was decided that the aircraft would have to come down without any wheels.

While the plane circled the Polish capital for an hour, dumping excess fuel and repeatedly trying to solve the problem, ground crews prepared for a crash landing, closing the airport to all other flights and clearing nearby streets. Fire crews also sprayed the runway with foam in a bid to prevent a fire from breaking out.

The pilot lifted the nose of the aircraft slightly as it approached the tarmac. As it slid along the runway, smoke billowed from the undercarriage followed by bright flashes from under the engines.

When it came to a halt, fire engines that were waiting along the sides and at the end of the tarmac rush towards the plane, dowsing it with foam. Meanwhile, passengers are quickly ushered off down the inflatable chutes on either side.

News channels and TV crews were on the scene soon after learning about the impending disaster and the incredible landing was beamed live around the world.

‘All safety procedures worked perfectly fine and, thanks to this, nobody was injured,’ said Leszek Chorzewski, spokesman for the Polish national flag carrier LOT, operator of the plane.