BA flight to London bursts into flames
A British Airways plane caught fire on the runway at Las Vegas airport as it was preparing to take off, forcing the pilot to effect an emergency evacuation.
All 157 passengers and 13 crew made it off the Flight BA 2276 safely but 14 people were treated for minor injuries due to cuts and bruises sustained when exiting via the inflatable evacuation chutes.
They were taken to Sunrise hospital, according to local reports.
The twin-engine Boeing 777, bound for London Gatwick, was seen on the tarmac engulfed in flames and emitting black plumes of smoke.
— Bradley Hampton (@Bradley_Hampton) September 8, 2015
The fire came from the plane’s left engine, according to a preliminary assessment by the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot had earlier aborted take-off and radioed air traffic control to report a problem.
Thirty seconds later he sent a mayday reporting a fire, shortly before evacuating passengers on tot he runway.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said there were 172 people onboard at the time. BA said the total number was 170.
One passenger, Jacob Steinberg a journalist with The Guardian, described the incident on Twitter.
"Could smell and see smoke but was on other side of plane. One person said fire melted a couple of windows," Steinberg tweeted.
"They opened the back door and a slide went down and smoke started coming in plane, followed by mad dash to front. A lot of panic."
The captain told passengers the fire was caused by a ‘catastrophic failure of the engine’.
An airport spokeswoman told reporters: "All passengers were evacuated quickly and safely and taken by bus to the terminal.
"We cannot express enough gratitude to the emergency response crews, as well as the British Airways crew."
BA said : "The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we are looking after those who were on board the BA2276 from Las Vegas to London Gatwick following an incident on Tuesday.
"The aircraft, a 777-200 experienced a technical issue as it was preparing for take-off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.
"Our crew evacuated the aircraft safely and the fire was quickly extinguished by the emergency services at the airport.
"A small number of customers and our crew have been taken to hospital.
"All customers have been provided with hotel accommodation, and our colleagues are helping them with anything further they require."
The incident forced the closure of one of McCarran international airport’s four runways, causing some flight delays. The runway reopened shortly after midnight local time.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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