A CSA Chech Airlines from Budapest (Hungary) to Prague (Czech Republic) with 33 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing through about 3000 feet out of Budapest’s runway 31R when the crew, audibly on oxygen masks, declared Mayday reporting smoke in the aircraft and requested an immediate return to runway 31R for a landing as soon as possible.
Another aircraft was immediately pulled off the approach and sent into a hold, several more aircraft also were sent to holds. About a minute after the initial emergency call the crew reported they had an engine fire on the left hand engine, the engine had been shut down and the fire suppression systems had been discharged, the fire appeared to have been extinguished, in the stress of the situation the crew reported 330 passengers and 4 crew on board. The aircraft landed safely on runway 31R about 10 minutes after departure and stopped on the runway where emergency services checked the aircraft before it continued to the apron.
Budapest Airport was closed for about 30 minutes as result of the emergency due to one runway out of service for maintenance and the other kept sterile for the emergency and subsequent checks. Two aircraft diverted to Bratislava as result of the delay.
The airline confirmed the crew received an engine fire indication, shut the engine down and returned to Budapest.