- Engine Fire Forces American Airlines Evacuation
- American Airlines Flight Diverts After Engine Fire
- Passengers Evacuate Due to Engine Fire in Denver
Dozens of passengers were forced to evacuate an American Airlines flight by climbing onto the wing at Denver International Airport after one of the plane’s engines caught fire on Thursday evening, sending thick black smoke into the air.
American Airlines Flight 1006, a Boeing 737-800 traveling from Colorado Springs to Dallas-Fort Worth with 172 passengers and six crew members, diverted to Denver around 5:15 p.m. local time after the crew reported “engine vibrations,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“After landing and while taxiing to the gate, an engine caught fire,” the FAA said in a statement. The agency is investigating the incident.
Before landing, the pilot informed air traffic controllers in Denver about the engine issues, but clarified that it wasn’t an emergency, based on audio from LiveATC.net.
“American 1006, just to verify, not an emergency still, right?” the controller asked.
“No, we just have high engine vibration, so we’re cruising slower than normal,” the pilot responded.
A Montana woman, Kristal Leonard, who was waiting for a connecting flight at the airport, filmed a large cloud of smoke coming from the plane and saw dozens of passengers fleeing.
Leonard, who was flying in from Helena, Montana, shared with CNN that she was terrified for the passengers, saying, “I can’t even imagine how scared they must’ve been.”
Fortunately, ground crews quickly extinguished the flames, as shown in a video taken by a passenger inside the airport. The footage shows bright orange flames and black smoke dissipating, turning into a white mist as workers put out the fire.
American Airlines has dispatched a replacement plane and crew to help passengers continue their journey to Dallas.
This engine fire comes just three weeks after a Delta Air Lines flight crashed, flipped over, and caught fire on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport. It also follows several deadly crashes this year, including incidents in Alaska, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, where an American Airlines flight collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in January, resulting in 67 deaths.
In December, aviation disasters in South Korea and Kazakhstan claimed more than 200 lives.
