A British Airways plane caught fire Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of its 157 passengers, 10 crew members and three pilots, while leaving 14 people injured.
A Boeing 777-200, the British Airways plane's left engine erupted in flames at 4:13 p.m. local time as it was taking off from the McCarren Airport in Las Vegas and headed for London's Gatwick Airport, according to Ian Gregor, the spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
As the British Airways fire took place, black smoke and orange flames were seen erupting from under the plane's left wing, causing passengers to flee before firefighters were able to reach the scene and douse the fire, according to Fox News.
The British Airways fire involved British Airways Flight 2276, according to McCarren Airport.
All injured were rushed to Sunrise Hospital. The injuries were mostly due to the passengers sliding down inflatable chutes, fire officials said.
The firefighters reached the burning British Airways plane two minutes following the report of fire. All people inside the plane were able to evacuate completely three minutes after firefighters were able to respond. According to Sky News, approximately 50 firefighters arrived at the scene of the British Airways fire.
After using the emergency slides, the passengers were bused back to the terminal, an FAA spokesman told the Daily News.
According to Jacob Steinberg, a Guardian reporter, the scene of the British Airways fire caused "a lot of panic" following the smoke's entrance into the plane. The smoke reportedly started pouring in just as the plane started moving on the runway.
Steinberg even tweeted a photo from the scene of the British Airways fire.
To give you an idea of what the fire was like (that's my mate Jez, who just had a knee reconstruction, on the run). pic.twitter.com/snpHGFyxIC
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) September 8, 2015
The cause of the British Airways plane fire remains unclear, according to Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Jon Klassen, as told to the Associated Press. He added that the fire was unable to reach the cabin.
As of the current moment, the National Transportation Safety Board is still collecting information regarding the incident, according to the agency's spokesman, Eric Weiss.
Meanwhile, Caroline Titmuss, the spokeswoman for British Airways, did not reply to questions by the AP regarding the British Airways plane fire. However, she said that "safety is always our priority."
Titmuss' later statement stated that passengers were provided with hotel rooms and were being assisted by airline staff following the incident.
As a result of the British Airways fire, the FAA delayed for two hours, flights to Las Vegas from some airports in order to reduce plane flow. Two runways of the airport have become inaccessible as well, but one has reopened after 2 1/2 hours.
According to CTV News, the Boeing 777-200 has had two fatal crashes in its 21-year history. These include one in July 2013 when an Asiana Airlines flight landed short of San Francisco International Airport's runway, thus killing three passengers. The other crash involved the missing Malaysia Airlines flight last year, with debris discovered on an Indian Ocean island.
