Passengers evacuated from an Air Busan plane that was engulfed in flames this week at a South Korean airport will have their checked baggage returned to them, after authorities on Friday deemed the jet safe for a full investigation.

South Korean officials are launching an investigation into the cause of the fire that engulfed an Air Busan passenger plane, with eyewitness accounts suggesting a power bank may have sparked the blaze.

A passenger plane has caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea, but all 176 people on board have been safely evacuated.

An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan caught fire on Tuesday at Gimhae International Airport in the country's south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said.

The fire broke out in the back of the cabin, officials said. All 176 people on board, including passengers and crew members, were evacuated, some with minor injuries.

Concerns have been raised about the safety risk of bringing portable batteries in carry-on luggage for flights, as a lithium-ion battery is suspected as the cause of the fire that

Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be identified, an Air Busan official was quoted in local media reports stating that the fire “appears to have been caused by a passenger’s portable power bank, compressed inside the overhead bin”.

Authorities will start a joint investigation into the Air Busan A321 that burst into flames at Busan Gimhae International Airport, Yonhap News Agency reports.