Photos: Arsenal women's team plane catches fire on the runway

A plane carrying the Arsenal women's team back from their Champions League semi-final first leg with Wolfsburg burst into flames on the runway on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred at the Braunschweig Wolfsburg Airport after a bird flew into the engine shortly before it was due to take off, causing a loud bang. Flames immediately started to come out of the left engine of the Boeing 737, and the pilots on board quickly evacuated the passengers, including Arsenal's first team squad, to safety. 

Arsenal have released a statement confirming they returned home safely on Monday morning. 

The statement read: 'Our aircraft developed a technical issue prior to take-off in Germany on Sunday evening.

'As a result, we remained in Wolfsburg overnight on Sunday before flying back to England on Monday afternoon. We would like to thank the staff onboard the aircraft and on the ground at the airport for their assistance.'