Travel chaos erupted over the weekend after a cabin fire was reported in the middle of a packed flight. An American Airlines flight bound for Phoenix was forced to divert to Washington Dulles International Airport after a passenger’s device caught fire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airline. The airline confirmed that Flight 357 “landed safely” at Dulles “following reports of smoke from a customer’s device”.
“The device was quickly contained by crew members prior to landing”, the airline stated, without specifying the type of device involved. Emergency personnel were on hand to meet the aircraft when it touched down around 11.50am local time on Saturday. Passenger Adriana Novello, 22, said she was seated in an exit row and was sleeping when she was jolted awake by a flight attendant scrambling to retrieve the fire extinguisher.
She told ABC News: “Then I started smelling smoke, and a lot of people on the plane were coughing. But I looked behind me, and what we could tell was that there was something on fire in the aisle.”
The flight, which had taken off from Philadelphia, was carrying 160 passengers and six crew members.
The FAA has launched an investigation into the incident.
An American Airlines spokesperson added: “We appreciate the professionalism of our crew and thank our team who are working to get our customers to their destination as quickly as possible.”
This comes after an American Airlines plane burst into flames during takeoff at Denver International Airport last month, forcing terrified passengers to flee down emergency slides as thick smoke poured from the aircraft.
Flight 3023, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Miami, was accelerating for takeoff around 2.45pm local time when it suffered what officials described as a “landing gear incident”, prompting the crew to abort takeoff.
According to cockpit audio captured by Live ATC and reported by 9News, an air traffic controller urgently radioed the pilot: “Flight 2023, you got a lot of smoke.” Moments later, the controller added bluntly: “You are actually on fire.”
Video posted to social media showed the aftermath, with flames engulfing the rear left side of the plane as panicked passengers scrambled down the slide to escape.
