El Al plane makes emergency landing in T.A. due to fire on board

An El Al flight bound from the U.S. was forced to make an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion Airport early Friday morning.

"About an hour and a half before landing, smoke started coming out from the kitchen in the rear of the cabin," a passenger told Haaretz. "The flight attendants rushed back and forth, holding fire extinguishers, and the captain tried to reassure us. It was very scary."

El Al said that "a power failure in the aircraft's kitchen caused the spark. The crew switched off the electricity and contained the fire. The problem was resolved swiftly and efficiently, without risking the passengers or interrupting the course of the flight."

The Boeing 747-400 took of from New Jersey's Newark airport and had hundreds of passengers on board.