Passengers Evacuated as American Airlines Jet Catches Fire at Chicago Airport

An American Airlines jet had to abort take off and evacuate passengers through its emergency chutes on Friday. The plane caught fire moments prior to takeoff from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, authorities said.

No serious injuries were reported.

The airline said in a statement that an “engine-related issue” prevented the takeoff of American Airlines Flight 383. The Boeing 767 was bound for Miami with 161 passengers and a crew of nine.

The flight crew reported that a tire had blown-out while the plane was rolling down the runway before takeoff was canceled, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA or the airline did not mention a fire.

However, footage from WLS-TV, Chicago’s ABC News affiliate station, showed an American Airlines jet on the ground with flames and large clouds of black smoke rising from one side of the aircraft. Emergency slides had been deployed and passengers gathered about the aircraft. They watched the blaze as fire trucks sprayed water on the flames.

Passenger Hector Gustavo Cardenas posted a video clip on Facebook showing passengers yelling at each other to move faster as they head down the aisle to the emergency exit slide.

The Chicago Department of Aviation confirmed in a statement that the city fire department acted in response to an aircraft fire concerning American Airlines Flight 383. They also verified that the passengers were evacuated from the plane. Moreover, it said that there was no crash involved in the incident.

A flight attendant and seven passengers were taken to a hospital for evaluation of minor injuries, the company said.

According to an American Airlines spokeswoman, the injuries were typical of those related with evacuating a commercial jet. None of them involved burns or smoke inhalation.

Incident causes major disruption of airport operations

The incident required the closing of at least three of the airport’s eight runways, the city Aviation Department said.

About two hours following the incident, the airport had experienced 170 delays of inbound flights and 130 departing flights. This was reported by the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com

Based on web tracking sites and a live feed of tower conversations from liveatc.net, operations later resumed on the north side of O’Hare airport, one of the world’s busiest.

 

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Hartford Fiery Plane Crash: 1 Dead, 1 Injured

Hartford CONN. – Authorities confirmed 1 dead and 1 wounded due to a plane crash on Main Street in East Hartford on Tuesday.

The Piper PA 34 twin engine hit a utility pole and crashed around 3:30pm. According to the police, the plane was carrying two men, a student pilot and an instructor. The instructor was rushed to St. Francis Hospital with serious burns and injuries while the student was presumed dead. Police did not announce the identity of the two victims.

East Hartford Police Lt. Josh Litwin said “As far as the occupants of the plane, he is expected to survive. He is cooperating with investigators he’s actually speaking with detectives as part of this investigation as ongoing,”

Two people from a nearby car were also brought to the hospital because they were traumatized from the crash. Police made it clear that the plane did not hit the car in any way.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said that the plane was owned by a local flight school and on final approach to Brainard Airport which is just across from the crash site.

The NTSB and FAA will have a joint investigation.

Meanwhile, due to the plane crash, Main Street was no longer passable between Willow Street Extension and Ensign Street until further notice. Drivers were advised to avoid the area.

The plane crash also caused power outages to around 500 people in the area. Eversource crews were working to reroute the power. The remaining number of outages, which will be isolated right by the vicinity of the crash and where the lines came down, will take longer to restore. According to them, they are still waiting for the investigators go-signal to start doing the repairs.

Following the incident, Pratt and Whitney’s officials released a statement:

“We are aware of the incident that occurred this afternoon on Main Street. Our thoughts are with the people affected. It does not appear at this time that any Pratt & Whitney employees or contractors were involved. Additionally, there is no impact to our operation here in East Hartford other than restricted traffic flow to the facility’s main entrance on Main Street. We stand ready to assist local officials as needed. Additional queries should be directed to the appropriate local officials.”

Officials from the United States Postal Service said no USPS employees or vehicles were affected. However, they believe a collection box where customers drop their outgoing mail may have been damaged.

Traffic along I-84 and Route 2 in East Hartford was affected because of the plane crash.

Part of Route 2 was shut down at one point, but it has since reopened. Exit 55 off Interstate 84 reopened as well as the westbound side of Route 2.

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