A United Airlines aircraft catches fire at Bush Airport in Houston

 

 

• On Sunday morning, a United Airlines flight from IAH to LaGuardia had to cancel its takeoff.
• Passengers' footage reveals flames emanating from the plane's wing.
• No one was injured.

HOUSTON: According to the FAA, an engine problem forced a flight from Houston to New York to abort takeoff, necessitating evacuation.

 

What we know: According to the FAA, a "reported engine issue" at approximately 8:35 a.m. on Sunday forced the crew of United Airlines Flight 1382 to halt their departure from George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport.

 

The United Airlines plane's wing is on fire in video that FOX 26 Houston obtained from an individual on board. A flight attendant is heard in the video requesting that passengers remain seated. There is a voice saying, "No, it's on fire!" at one point.According to the Houston Fire Department, passengers had to exit the aircraft using the emergency slide and stairs. A group of fliers can be seen standing on the tarmac in the video. There were no reported injuries. According to Houston Fire, they were not required to extinguish a fire related to the incident. The Airbus A319 was en route to New York's LaGuardia Airport. There were five crew members and 104 passengers on board at the time. Houston Airports says another plane will transport travelers to New York at 12:30 p.m. The incident is being looked into by the FAA. What we don't know: The events leading up to the fire have not been made public. "Hopefully, it was only a strange mishap." 

 

What they're saying: A passenger who shared video of the incident spoke with FOX 26 reporter Jade Flury over a Zoom call. Ashlyn Sharp claimed that she was attempting to fall asleep during takeoff when the plane began to shake and she heard a loud noise. She remarked, "I don't think we were that high up." Something seemed to have flown into the engine or something. Everyone was frightened by it. At that moment, we could all smell the smoke coming from inside and see the wing and engine burning outside our window. Sharp claimed that she managed to remain composed until other individuals began to panic and attempt to flee on their own. She was also concerned about the deadly plane crashes that occurred in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in the past week. "Being on the ground, I knew we were okay," Sharp remarked.

 

"When I started witnessing people yelling, running, attempting to escape, and crying, I was undoubtedly in full-on panic mode. With everything going on at the moment, it was nothing more than a nightmare. It wasn't what I had planned for this morning. A flight attendant in Sharp's video instructs passengers to stay seated. At first, she said, that's what happened, but when the crew realized people weren't going to sit, they finally evacuated the passengers.

 

"After realizing we wouldn't be in our seats for long, [the crew] finally got us on the emergency slide out the back [of the plane]." After that, we spent roughly two and a half hours stranded on the tarmac. Then, according to Sharp, "a number of shuttles, ambulances, and police arrived." Sharp had a reservation for a Sunday afternoon flight to New York. She remarked, "Hopefully, it was just a freak accident," "I'm happy that everyone was alright."