Twelve passengers were treated for minor injuries after the airliner’s engine fired upon landing.
More than 170 passengers and six crew members were evacuated after an engine of an outbound American Airlines jet landed in Denver and sparked a fire.
The incident unfolded Thursday after a Boeing 737-800 aircraft decoupled from its Dallas destination and landed in Denver at 5:15pm local time (23:15 GMT).
“After landing safely and directing us to the gates of Denver International Airport (den), American Airlines flights experienced engine-related issues,” the airline said in a statement.
According to the airline, all 172 passengers and six crew members safely evacuated the aircraft and moved to the terminal. Twelve passengers with minor injuries were reportedly taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The dramatic images showed passengers appearing from emergency doors to the wings of the plane.
Destruction: After an emergency landing at Denver International Airport on Thursday evening, a US Airlines plane carrying 178 people appeared to have set a tarmac on fire, forcing passengers to evacuate as they climbed onto the plane’s wings. https://t.co/gwlirsyile pic.twitter.com/aosu1ib24h
– CBS News (@cbsnews) March 14, 2025
This is the second most recent aviation incident involving American Airlines aircraft.
On January 29, 67 people were killed in an airborne collision between an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.
Last month, Delta’s regional jets were turned upside down when they landed in windy weather at Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport after a snowstorm, injuring 18 of the 80 people on board, but all passengers and crew survived the incident.
Just this week, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and Delta CEO Ed Bastian cited recent US air raids and weather phenomena as reasons for the decline in domestic travel demand, along with economic uncertainty.