An incident involving an American Airlines flight during takeoff at the Denver International Airport led to the evacuation of it’s passengers on Saturday afternoon from the aircraft.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the Denver Fire Department disclosed that the emergency evacuation occurred on American Airlines Flight 3023, which was scheduled to depart from Denver to Miami International Airport.
According to CBS News, the unfortunate incident reportedly took place while the plane was still on the runway. Thankfully, all 173 passengers and six crew members on board were safely evacuated. However, American airline disclosed that one individual had to be transported to a hospital with minor injuries.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the crew of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 “reported a possible landing gear incident during departure” around 2:45 p.m. local time.
Video footage captures smoke and flames coming from the rear of the aircraft as passengers evacuated using an emergency slide. They were then transported to the terminal by bus. The FAA has confirmed that it is actively investigating the incident.
“During the speed-up, when the plane almost took off, we heard a loud boom, and I said, ‘That’s not good,’” a passenger said.
He continued, “It was definitely an unpleasant moment, but we were lucky that we didn’t get up in the air yet, so we weren’t airborne just yet, but I would imagine that it happened five to 10 seconds before we were airborne.”
The airport confirmed that five people were evaluated at the scene but did not require further treatment. However, one individual was taken to the hospital for medical attention, a detail also confirmed by both the airline and airport authorities.
