An engine on a passenger jet bound for Caracas, Venezuela, burst into flames while taxiing for takeoff at a Florida airport yesterday, officials said, and several people were injured as they exited the plane using emergency slides.
Television images showed the Dynamic International Airways Boeing 767-200ER surrounded by white foam and firefighters’ trucks at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, its inflatable evacuation chutes deployed.
Video shot by a passenger on another plane showed thick grey smoke pouring from the flight before the blaze was extinguished.
Michael Jachles, a spokesman for Broward Sheriff’s Office, said 101 people, including crew, were on board. Fifteen were transported to the hospital, he told reporters, one with serious burn wounds and two with less serious injuries.
The remaining injuries appeared to be bumps and bruises, Mr Jachles said.
Officials got a call at 12.34pm that Dynamic Airways flight 405 experienced a left enginefire while taxiing on one of the airport’s two runways.Passengers had been completely evacuated by 12.37pm, Mr Jachles told a news conference.
The airport reopened about three hours later.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending four people to Fort Lauderdale to investigate the fire, the agency said on Twitter.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane had experienced a fuel leak before takeoff. Greensboro, North Carolina-based Dynamic said in a statement that the crew became aware of an engine problem while taxiing for departure.
“The crew followed the emergency procedures, shut down the engine and evacuated the aircraft in order to assure safety to all on board,” it said. “The company is conducting an initial investigation and will issue further information once available.”
The carrier said on its website that it has operated wide-body aircraft since 2009.
The plane was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, said Sara Banda, a spokeswoman from Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp.
Boeing Co said in a statement it is providing technical assistance to the NTSB investigation.
Dynamic’s 767-200ER was built in 1986, and only seven such planes of that age or older remain in service out of 65 built, according to Collateral Verifications.