The aeroplane, American Airlines Flight 383, was bound for Miami from Chicago with 161 passengers and nine crew members on board.
Chicago, October 29: In a tragic accident on Friday, the engine of an American Airline flight was caught in flames as it tried to take off from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The take off was aborted by the crew and passengers were evacuated by emergency chutes.
The accident took place seconds before the flight was about to take off. The aeroplane, American Airlines Flight 383, was bound for Miami from Chicago with 161 passengers and nine crew members on board. According to Reuters, authorities have confirmed that the planes was headed down an O’Hare runway at about 2:30 p.m. CDT (1930 GMT) when the right-side engine of the twin-engine jet burst into flames.
According to videos and footage that has been released after the accident, passengers can be seen moving frantically in a desperate bid to disembark from th aircraft. Video footage shows plumes of smoke rising high from the right side of the aircraft.
At a news conference later,Timothy Sampey, assistant deputy fire commissioner, said that the mishap could have been much worse. The plane was fully loaded with 43,000 lbs (19,504 kg) of jet fuel, which was leaking when fire crews reached the jet, Sampey said.Sampey confirmed the incident began with a fire in the right-side engine. He added, “So they had a heavy volume of fire on both the engine and the entire wing. This could have been absolutely devastating if it happened later.”
The plane’s engine was manufactured by General Electric Co, and General Electric has dispatched investigators to the scene. According to reports in Reuters, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States initially said the pilot aborted takeoff after reporting a blown-out tire. But city fire spokesman Larry Langford said he saw no blown tires at the scene. Langford is reported to have said that 19 passengers and one flight attendant were taken to a hospital with minor injuries – such as bumps, bruises and sprained ankles – suffered in exiting the plane. There were no burns or cases of smoke inhalation. He then added, “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.” Heis also reported having added that the plane was 15 to 20 seconds away from being airborne when the fire erupted.
As a result of the incident, at least three of the airport’s eight runways have been forced to shut down according to the city Aviation Department. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, which is one of the world’s busiest airports, had to experience 130 delays of departing flights and 170 delays of inbound flights as a result of the incident.