Moment Delta airplane catches fireplace as passengers flee down emergency exit
A dramatic new video shows a Delta plane bursting into flames after it landed at Seattle-Tacoma airport on Monday, May 6.
Footage shows the nose of the Airbus A321neo is seen glowing red and emitting smoke after flying in from Cancun, Mexico.
All 189 passengers were rushed out through the emergency exit on the wing and told to use emergency slides to the tarmac.
Ashwin Menon, a passenger on troubled plane, told KOMO News he remembers hearing flight attendants saying over the intercom: ‘Drop your belongings, unbuckle, and head to the exits.’
‘I think people responded to that with panic, there was a little bit of jostling in the aisles to get to the exit,’ Menon told KOMO News, which obtained the terrifying video. ‘But overall it was a pretty smooth evacuation process.’
Surveillance video obtained by KOMO News shows a Delta plane’s nose area erupting into flames shortly after landing at Seattle-Tacoma Airport on a Monday night last week
An airport spokesperson revealed that the fire started when a electrical cord plugged into the plane shorted out.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the fire could have been caused by a ‘ground power unit.’
There were no major injuries as a result of the incident, though Menon said he saw a few people getting hurt while going down the emergency slide, including a woman who twisted her ankle.
‘Once I got out of the flight you could see the fire burning right below the cockpit,’ Menon said. ‘I was glad everyone was able to make it out.’
The Port of Seattle Fire Department arrived after the fire burned out, officials said, though firefighters sprayed water on the charred area anyway.
Delta issued a statement to address concerns related to the fire, which is shown burning for several minutes on the surveillance video.
‘During deplaning Monday evening, the crew of Flight 604 from Cancun to Seattle witnessed smoke in the aircraft nose area after plugging into ground electrical power.
‘Out of an abundance of caution, slides were deployed and passengers still on board deplaned via the rear of the aircraft,’ the company wrote.
Delta also revealed that the Airbus plane was less than two years old.
Passengers on the Airbus A321neo are seen evacuating. They step onto the plane’s right wing, before sliding down the emergency slide just behind
Passengers returned to the terminal via a ramp to a loading bridge, according to officials.
Menon said after waiting in the terminal they were sent to U.S. Customs and were able to leave about an hour after that.
An apology was issued via email from Delta the next morning, which sent him some airline miles for his trouble.
Menon thanked all the first responders and the flight crew for guiding the passengers through the unexpected situation, adding that he was glad this didn’t happen in the air.
‘It lingers in the mind a little bit, I’m glad it happened over land and at the boarding gate, it’s the best place to hope for an evacuation,’ he said.
