A Malindo Air flight was forced to turn back to the Subang airport after its engine caught fire this morning.

In a statement, Malindo Air said the plane encountered an incident during climb at about 7,000 feet.   

"The aircraft fire detection system was activated and immediately the operating crew carried out the emergency checklist as per the standard operating procedure to contain the situation.

"The captain decided to turn back to Subang and the aircraft landed safely in Subang without any further incident and no one was hurt. All the passengers were later transferred to another flight to Terengganu," said the budget carrier.

Malindo Air said the cause of the incident is currently being investigated and has been reported to the relevant authorities, engine and aircraft manufacturer.        

Malindo Air is a Malaysian hybrid airline based at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Commencing operations on March 22, 2013, Malindo Air is the first airline to operate the brand new B737-900ER in Malaysia.

Malindo Air started its ATR72-600 operations from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang Skypark on 3 June 2013.

Terengganu state footballers onboard

Terengganu state footballers were among the passengers, adds Bernama .

They were returning home after their Super League match against the Armed Forces at the Selayang Stadium last night. They won 3-0. 

Midfielder Mohd Faiz Subri, 28, said the passengers had the fright of their lives when they heard an explosion, after which they saw one of the plane's propellers catch fire just after take off. 

"I could only pray that nothing bad would happen to us. It was the first time I had encountered this kind of emergency. 

"All of us were quite scared, but the pilot and crew acted professionally to calm us," he said when met at the Sultan Mahmud Airport here today.  

Defender Mohd Zubir Azmi, 26, said he became frightened and nervous as he thought of the fate of passengers and crew of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. 

"After the plane landed safely in Subang we thought of going back to Terengganu by bus as we were somewhat traumatised. But we took the replacement flight at 11.15am anyway," he said.

A picture of the burning engine posted on a social media site by Terengganu midfielder Faiz Subri this morning went viral.