Fire guts Ethiopian Airline aircraft at Shanghai

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777F has caught fire at Shanghai Pudong Airport while cargo was being loaded.

The airline in a statement said that the aircraft is registered ET-ARH and was on a regularly scheduled cargo service from Shanghai Pudong to Sao Paolo, and onward to Santiago.

The airline confirmed that the fire has been contained and that all ground staff and flying crew are safe, it adds.

There are images being shared on social media of the aircraft with smoke pouring from the fuselage as the fire seems to have burnt through the main cargo deck and right through the roof.

Firefighters on the videos are on the scene attempting to get the blaze under control. No injuries have been reported, but the cause of the fire remains unknown while Ethiopian says it is working with the relevant authorities to investigate the incident.

ET-ARH is a five-year-old Boeing 777F, which has been with Ethiopian since it was built. The aircraft is already listed on Aviation Safety Network as being written off, despite firefighters still working to tackle the blaze.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.