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American Airlines Plane Catches Fire During Takeoff, 19 Passengers Suffer Minor Injuries

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 15:19 PST, Oct 28, 2016

Passengers on board American Airlines Flight 383, a routine service between Chicago, Illinois, and Miami, Florida, had a lucky escape after the plane caught fire seconds before it was supposed to take off from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. According to Yahoo News, the aircraft involved in the incident was a Boeing 767 that was carrying 161 passengers and nine crew members onboard at the time of the incident. The incident took place just before the American Airlines plane was about to get airborne at about 2:30 p.m. CDT (1930 GMT). Initial reports confirm that the right-side engine of the twin-engine jet burst into flames just before takeoff. Following the fire, the pilots aborted the takeoff and deployed emergency chutes to evacuate passengers. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported in the incident which authorities said was caused by an engine fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated by a team of experts.

While there is no footage of the actual aborted takeoff, several news stations have released videos of the immediate aftermath of the incident. In the videos, a thick cloud of black smoke could be seen billowing from the right side of the aircraft as fire trucks attempted to put out the flames. According to Timothy Sampey, assistant deputy fire commissioner, the mishap could have been much worse had the fire occurred after the plane had taken off. He went on to add that the Boeing 767 was fully loaded with more than 43,000 lbs (19,504 kg) of jet fuel which was leaking when fire crews reached the burning aircraft. In a news conference later, he told media persons,

“So they had a heavy volume of fire on both the engine and the entire wing, This could have been absolutely devastating if it (the fire) happened later.”

While he did not reveal the initial findings or a probable cause, he did confirm that the fire was caused by the right-side engine. This engine is made by General Electric and is generally known as a reliable workhorse. A team of engineers from GE have also reached Chicago to investigate the incident. There were initial reports about the aborted takeoff being caused by a blown-out tire. This was, however, later found to be untrue. This was confirmed by City fire spokesman Larry Langford who said that he did not see any blown tires at the scene. He did, however, reveal that 19 passengers and one flight attendant suffered minor injuries in the incident and that all of them were taken to local hospitals.

Most of the injuries ranged from minor bruises and sprained ankles — all sustained during the time of the emergency evacuation. There were no reports of any passenger suffering burns or smoke inhalation.

Larry Langford explained that all the passengers were lucky since the fire never reached the cabin.

“The fire never got into the cabin. This happened so close to one of the airport fire stations that they were on it in a minute.”

Following the incident, three of the eight runways at the airport were closed to traffic, leading to several delays. Several approaching aircraft were instructed to execute a go-around as emergency vehicles and workers thronged the runway where the affected aircraft lay motionless. There were more than 170 delayed departures from Chicago, widely considered to be among the world’s busiest airports, following the incident. Incidentally, this incident with the American Airlines aircraft happened on the same day an unrelated mishap occurred at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the landing gear of a FedEx cargo plane collapsed on touchdown, sparking a fire. All the crew members on board that FedEx plane have been deemed safe as well.

[Featured Image by Jose Castillo/AP Images]

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