Passengers aboard a Delta flight from Mexico were forced to evacuate their plane when a fire broke out on board shortly after landing. The Airbus A321Neo plane began to smolder just after it landed in Seattle, but no injuries have been reported as a result of the fire.
The two-year-old Airbus A321Neo had just completed the six-hour flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Seattle’s Tacoma International Airport, the Independent reports. After landing in America, smoke began to fill the cabin and video footage shared online shows bright lights bursting from the plane’s nose.
After the fire was discovered, crews aboard the aircraft deployed the evacuation slides “out of an abundance of caution,” Delta told USA Today. The airline reports that everyone on board the plane evacuated safely and reached the Seattle terminal building. As USA Today reports:
“While disembarking on the evening of May 6, the crew of Flight 604 from Cancun to Seattle witnessed smoke in the nose of the plane after connecting electricity to the ground. Out of an abundance of caution, slides were deployed and passengers still on board were evacuated through the rear of the aircraft,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY.
“Passengers were completely evacuated and those who had left for the ramp returned to the terminal via the ramp stairs. All passengers went to customs at the International Arrivals Facility for regular processing. The aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection and maintenance.”
Investigators investigating the fire are focusing their efforts on the electrical cord plugged into the nose of the plane and do not believe there is a problem with the plane itself.
Video captured by CCTV cameras at the airport shows passengers climbing out of the plane over the wings and running from the back of the plane. Another thing you might notice in the crowd fleeing the scene is that many of them are carrying belongings as they shoot down evacuation slides.
This obviously contradicts the safety information we all receive at the start of every flight. During the briefing, crews always tell passengers to leave everything behind when evacuating a plane, as items like backpacks, laptops and hat boxes can all slow down evacuation efforts.
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