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An American Airlines flight traveling from Colorado Springs to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver after takeoff Thursday evening. As it was taxiing to the terminal, the plane erupted into flames, forcing passengers to exit the aircraft and stand on one of the plane’s wings.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, had 172 passengers and six crew members on board when is burst into flames. All 178 people on the flight were able to be evacuated relatively safely, but 12 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
American Airlines said in a statement following the incident, “After landing safely and taxiing to the gate at Denver International Airport (DEN), American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced an engine-related issue. The 172 customers and six crew members deplaned and are being relocated to the terminal. We thank our crew members, DEN team and first responders for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority.”
Numerous videos of the plane on fire with passengers standing on one of the aircraft’s wings have since spread across the internet.
JUST IN: American Airlines flight catches on fire at Denver International Airport, passengers seen running through the smoke.
The footage was shared by Joshua Sunberg on Instagram who was at the airport.
“Fire at Denver Airport on American Airlines! Ground crews worked fast… pic.twitter.com/S2lWG5hCDu
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 14, 2025
“As soon as the plane landed, we smelled this weird burning plastic smell and then everybody started screaming and saying there was a fire,” Gabrielle Hibbitts, a passenger on the plane, told CBS News Colorado.
American Airlines flight 4012 just caught fire at Denver airport pic.twitter.com/EHIGMAqJjJ
— Stone (@flynnstone) March 14, 2025
“We were near (gate) B44, just landed from Pittsburgh. We stopped by the windows for a second and saw a flash of sudden fire, followed by a ton of smoke,” witness Aaron Clark told CNBC.
“The fire was very brief and looked like it was extinguished pretty quickly by ground crews. The smoke continued for a while and that’s when we saw people starting to exit from the rear slides.”
According to the Guardian, air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net reveals that shortly before landing the pilot of the plane notified air traffic control there was an engine issue, but said it was not an emergency. Mere minutes later, someone can be heard shouting, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! Mayday! … engine fire!”
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