There were no injuries when an airplane engine caught fire after it landed at Trail Regional Airport Tuesday afternoon.

Doug Stoddart, a passenger aboard the Pacific Coastal Airlines flight, said the crew did not seem to be aware there was a problem after the plane taxied to the terminal.

"I was right at the front of the plane and I mentioned to the pilot that there is a fire on the right engine and just by the look on their face that told me that they were not aware of it," Stoddart told CBC News. "So I knew we all had to get off the plane in a hurry and I just followed instructions."

Stoddart said he's concerned about what could have happened.

"What if the clouds had not allowed us to land in Trail. Would we have had a problem later on?"

Airline vice-president Spencer Smith said the fire was quickly contained by on-board automated fire-suppression systems, which also would have worked if the plane had been aloft.

"The engine would shut down and the aircraft would still be able to operate safely with one engine to get where it was going," Smith said.

The fire occurred just after the twin-engine Saab 340 had arrived on a 400-kilometre flight from Vancouver.

The cause is under investigation.

With files from the CBC's Emily Elias