A British Airways jetliner engine on Tuesday caught fire in Las Vegas as the plane was about to leave for London, forcing the pilots to abort takeoff, but all 172 passengers and crew escaped the smoke and flames that quickly enveloped the aircraft.
Several passengers and crew suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital as a precaution, a spokeswoman for the airline said. She did not say how many people were injured.
However, fire department officials said 14 people were taken to Sunrise Hospital for injuries that were mostly a result of sliding down the inflatable chutes to escape.
Photo: EPA
Video and photographs from the scene showed Flight 2276, a Boeing Co 777 bound for Gatwick, engulfed in flames and thick black smoke at McCarran International Airport.
Firefighters stationed at the airport reached the plane two minutes after getting reports of flames, and within another three minutes, everyone inside the plane had escaped.
After firefighters extinguished the flames, emergency vehicles could be seen surrounding the aircraft, which was left a sooty gray from the smoke and fire retardant.
“Our crew evacuated the aircraft safely and the fire was quickly extinguished by the emergency services at the airport,” the British Airways spokeswoman said.
According to preliminary information, the plane’s left engine burst into flames on takeoff, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Pacific Division.
He said the plane was carrying 159 passengers and a crew of 13.
British Airways said the plane suffered a technical difficulty.
A photograph posted by the airport of the immediate aftermath of the fire showed the plane idled on the runway with its fuselage charred.
The fire temporarily delayed flights across the western US as the FAA delayed flights to Las Vegas from some airports for more than two hours after the fire to slow the flow of planes while the disabled plane made two of the airport’s four runways inaccessible. One of the runways reopened about two-and-half hours after the fire.
Jacob Steinberg, a sports journalist for the Guardian newspaper, wrote on Twitter that he had fallen asleep on the plane during takeoff and felt the jetliner come to “crashing halt.”
“Could smell and see smoke but was on other side of plane. One person said fire melted a couple of windows,” Steinberg wrote. “They opened the back door and slide went down and smoke started coming in plane, followed by mad dash to front. A lot of panic.”
Reggie Bugmuncher, of Philadelphia, was charging her cellphone and waiting at an airport gate for her flight from when she heard people saying, “Oh, my God.” She looked out and saw “bursts of flames coming out of the middle of the plane.”
“Everyone ran to the windows and people were standing on their chairs, looking out, holding their breath with their hands over their mouths,” Bugmuncher said.
Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Jon Klassen said the cause of the fire was not clear yet, but the fire did not appear to breach the cabin.
A spokeswoman for British Airways, which is owned by IAG , said safety was always the top priority and the airline was providing passengers with hotel accommodation and other needs.
The plane’s engines were not made by Rolls-Royce, a spokesman for the British engineering company said.
The plane was a Boeing Co 777 and BA’s 777s either uses engines from Rolls or General Electric, the airline said.
Additional reporting by AP
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