For the second time in two months, a commercial airplane full of passengers caught fire at the Las Vegas airport. An Allegiant Airlines flight bound for Fresno was evacuated after a fire broke out in the plane’s engine.
The Associated Press reports that Allegiant Air flight 516 was preparing to takeoff on Sunday when pilot aborted the maneuver and taxied the aircraft to a remote area of the airport.
A spokesperson for the airport says firefighters met the plane and extinguished the fire within 30 seconds. The 160 passengers and six crew members on the flight were shuttled back to the terminal and placed on a different aircraft. No injuries were reported.
The fire is the second in two months at the airport. Back in September, a British Airways flight heading to London with 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board, experienced engine failure resulting in an intense fire.
Passengers and crew members utilized the plane’s emergency slides to escape the fire. In all, 14 people were taken to a local hospital after suffering minor injuries from sliding down the chutes after the fire broke out.
Sunday’s fire is just the latest in a long line off issues for budget carrier Allegiant, which announced back in August that it would inspect its fleet of planes following an incident in which an aircraft had trouble during takeoff.
Federal regulators said in July that they had stepped up scrutiny of the budget carrier after a string of in-flight disturbances and accusations from a pilot’s union of poor safety standards.
At the time, a spokesperson for Allegiant said that the airline generally has a high number of diversions – although, he didn’t specify a number – because it doesn’t have mechanics in most cities it services.
Allegiant Air’s problems continue with engine fire in Las Vegas [The Associated Press]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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