ALERT: Plane Catches Fire at O’Hare Airport

ALERT: Plane Catches Fire at O’Hare Airport

A Miami-bound American Airlines flight caught fire, after an aborted takeoff at Chicago’s O’Hare

International Airport this afternoon.

The Boeing 767 had 161 passengers and nine (9) crew members aboard. All were evacuated safely,

though local news reports indicate several passengers were injured, none critically.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting:

An American Airlines flight bound for Miami caught fire on a runway at O’Hare

International Airport Friday afternoon when a tire apparently blew as the jetliner

was taking off, officials said.

The pilot of Flight 383, a Boeing B767, aborted the take off around 2:35 p.m.,

according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Passengers were taken off

through emergency chutes, it said.

Video footage from the scene showed all the planes chutes deployed and the right

wing blackened and sagging to the tarmac.

While the FAA said the problem started with a blown tire, American Airlines said

in a statement that the take-off was aborted “due to an engine-related mechanical

issue.”

“The 161 passengers and nine crew deplaned on the runway, and buses are

enroute to pick up the passengers and bring them back to the terminal,” the

airline said.

According to the FAA:

Due to RWY-TAXI / DISABLED AIRCRAFT, there is a Traffic Management

Program in effect for traffic arriving Chicago OHare International Airport,

Chicago, IL (ORD). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average

of 1 hour and 15 minutes.