United Airlines flight evacuated over engine issue: “It’s on fire”

A United Airlines flight was evacuated after an aborted takeoff when passengers noticed a wing was on fire.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has said the cause of the fire was a reported “engine malfunction,” per Fox 26.

Footage obtained from inside of the plane shows the cabin crew asking people to sit back down, and someone responding: “No, it’s on fire.”

United Airlines has been contacted for comment.

Why It Matters

This fire came four days after the deadliest domestic plane crash in almost 20 years, when 67 people died after a passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter in D.C., and, two days after a medical plane crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing six people, and injuring 19.

Separately, within its first two weeks in office the Trump administration has offered buyouts to air traffic control workers in an industry that is already short-staffed, and Elon Musk demanded the resignation of FAA head, Michael Whitaker.

What to Know

United Airlines Flight 1382, involving an ​​Airbus A319 plane, was beginning to taxi down the runway at 8:35 a.m. on Sunday at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport when passengers noticed a fire breaking out on one of the wings.

A video from the plane taken by passenger Ashlyn Sharp and posted by Fox 26, shows someone asking: “Please, please, please, get us out of here,” while others continue to say “it’s on fire!”

The video shows people getting up out of their seats on the moving plane, and pans out to show fire coming out of one of the wing flaps.

The plane was quickly disembarked via the emergency slides, and all 104 passengers and five crew members survived with no reported injuries. However, Sharp told Fox 26 that the passengers were then stranded on the tarmac for about two and a half hours waiting for shuttles, ambulances and police.

The passengers, who were supposed to be flying to LaGuardia in New York City, were put on a later flight to New York from Houston.

What People Are Saying

Houston Fire Department (HFD): “HFD’s Airport Rescue Firefighters are assisting at [Bush Airport] after a departing plane reported an issue on the runway. HFD assisted in deboarding the plane. No injuries have been reported at this time.”

Passenger Ashlyn Sharp told Fox 26: “It sounded like something flew into the engine or something. [It] scared everyone. That’s when we all looked out our window and saw the engine and the wing on fire, and we could smell the smoke inside.”

What Happens Next

The FAA, which is still without a leader, is investigating the incident.

United Airlines has been contacted for comment on whether it will be conducting an investigation into its fleet of Airbus A319 planes.