A United Airlines flight was recently evacuated after passengers noticed flames on one of the wings of the aircraft as a result of an engine malfunction during an aborted takeoff.
According to Newsweek, passengers, aboard an Airbus A319 plane for the United Airlines Flight 1382 from Houston to New York, noticed the fire as the aircraft was beginning to taxi down the runway at 8:35am on Sunday at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
A video of the incident, that quickly went viral on social media, showed cabin crew inside the moving aircraft urging passengers to be remain seated, as one traveller loudly pointed out: “No, it’s on fire.”
The latest incident comes days after the deadliest domestic plane crash in nearly 20 years, where 67 people lost their lives following a collision between a passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington.
The airplane in Houston was quickly disembarked via the emergency slides, and all 104 passengers and five crew members survived with no reported injuries.
However, one of the passengers told Fox 26 that other passengers were then stranded on the tarmac for about two and a half hours waiting for shuttles, ambulances and police.
The passengers were put on a later flight to New York from Houston.
In a statement to Newsweek, United Airlines said: “During takeoff, United flight 1382 received an indication about one engine and halted the takeoff while still on the runway.
“Passengers deplaned on the runway via a combination of slides and stairs and were bused to the terminal. There are no reported injuries at this time. We lined up a different aircraft to take customers to their destination at 2:00 p.m. CT.”
Separately, within its first two weeks in office the Trump administration offered buyouts to air traffic control workers in an industry that is already short-staffed, and Elon Musk demanded the resignation of FAA head, Michael Whitaker.
Meanwhile, the FAA, which is still without a leader, is investigating the incident.
