SkyWest Airlines’ flight 5869 from Aspen, Colorado, had safely landed at the Denver International Airport on Sunday morning when the left engine caught fire.
It was only when controllers at the airport control tower spotted large flames shooting from the umbrella company United Airlines’ plane – that’s how big the fire was – that they alerted the pilots. The flight attendants announced an emergency, and asked everyone to quickly leave the plane, leaving their things behind.
A passenger, Tyler Glasheen, posted a video on Instagram (above) which shows passengers being evacuated from the burning plane. “So we landed on the tarmac at Denver Airport, but we stop far from the gate. The stewardess runs to the back of the plane and we hear a commotion and then she screams ‘EVERYBODY OFF THE PLANE!’ We all evacuate,” he told ViralHog. He later told the Associated Press (AP) that he panicked when he heard the words “engine” and “fire”.
All 59 passengers, and the four crew members were safely evacuated from the plane. No one was injured or affected by the fire.
Some of the panicked passengers shared videos and pictures of the flaming plane, and, with relief, of the fire being effectively and promptly put out. Raiyan Syed posted a picture of the burning plane (above) and a video (below) of the fire being quenched, and wrote, “Quick and immediate response. First responders on runway. Huge thanks to pilot and crew for helping get passengers off safe.”
An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that the cause may have been a tyre fire, which spread to the engine on landing.
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