By Jacob Burg
Passengers were seen fleeing from an American Airlines jet on the runway at Denver International Airport on July 26 as plumes of smoke billowed from the aircraft’s belly.
A video posted to Instagram from passenger Mark Tsurkis showed passengers, some carrying small children, evacuating via the emergency slides amid the smoke and flames.
The jet experienced a “mechanical issue on takeoff roll at Denver International Airport,” which involved an “aircraft tire,” American Airlines told Reuters in a statement. The airline said all 173 passengers and six crew members exited the aircraft safely, and the plane was “taken out of service to be inspected” by American Airlines’ maintenance team.
One of the passengers was sent to a hospital after incurring a minor injury, the airline said in its statement.
Denver International Airport wrote on X that airport first responders and the Denver Fire Department responded to the aircraft on the runway, with five people “evaluated on scene and not transported.” The airport confirmed that one passenger was evaluated at the gate and transported for medical care.
The Denver Fire Department said on X that it “extinguished a fire after responding to the aircraft.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told The Epoch Times that American Airlines Flight 3023 reported a “possible landing gear incident” during its departure from Denver at roughly 2:45 p.m. local time on Saturday. Passengers evacuated via the runway and were transported to the terminal by bus, it added.
The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was headed for Miami International Airport. The FAA is investigating the incident, the agency said.
One passenger described the events leading up to the moment everyone on board was told to evacuate.
“About halfway to takeoff speed, we hear a big bang and a pop,” passenger Shaun Williams told local media. “The pilot immediately started abort procedures for taking off. You could feel him start to hit the brakes.”
According to flight tracking service FlightAware, American Airlines Flight 3023 was scheduled to depart Denver International Airport at around 1:15 p.m. local time on Saturday before it came to a stop on the runway.
Last week, the FAA said it would look at Boeing’s “entire supply chain” before removing the 38-plane-per-month cap on production of the manufacturer’s 737 MAX jet.
The agency imposed the production cap shortly after the mid-air door panel blowout in January 2024 involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that was missing four key door bolts.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
