Delta plane catches fire in Orlando: Passengers claim only one emergency slide was used
Delta plane catches fire just before takeoff in Orlando
There were terrifying moments onboard a Delta Air Lines flight as one of the plane’s engines caught fire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It happened just before takeoff on Monday morning at Orlando International Airport (MCO).
ORLANDO, Fla. - There were some terrifying moments onboard a Delta Air Lines flight as one of the plane’s engines caught fire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It happened just before takeoff on Monday morning while the aircraft was on the runway at the Orlando International Airport (MCO).
‘Could have easily been a tragic situation’
What we know:
A Delta Air Lines flight preparing to depart from Orlando International Airport (MCO) on Monday morning experienced a harrowing moment when one of its engines caught fire just before takeoff. The aircraft, an Airbus A330 bound for Atlanta, was carrying 282 passengers, ten crew members, and two pilots at the time of the incident, according to airport officials.
Emergency response teams were activated, and three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, although the cause of those injuries was not immediately released. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed it is investigating the incident.
What we don't know:
Several critical details remain unanswered, including the exact cause of the engine fire and how long passengers were kept onboard before evacuation procedures were completed. It is also unclear how many emergency slides were operational and whether FAA certification standards were fully met at the time of the incident. Delta Air Lines has declined to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
The backstory:
Delta’s Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft designed for high-capacity flights, typically equipped with multiple emergency exits and evacuation slides. Industry protocols require a certain number of operational slides for certification, especially for aircraft carrying hundreds of passengers. Safety concerns around slide deployment, evacuation timing, and crew response are now under scrutiny.
What they're saying:
Panicked passengers told FOX 35 they couldn’t get off the plane because only one of the plane’s available emergency slides was operational.
"You cannot get all those people off through one exit door, especially when they're trying to panic and pushing," said Channing Wells. "We were not getting off that plane."
Wells was onboard with her mother and son.
"He asked, ‘Mama, are we going to die?’ I was like, ‘No, not today.’ Even some of the staff was panicking, you had kids, you had adults who were having anxiety attacks, it was rough," Wells said. "There was like a big orange, I’m not going to say explosion, just like a bright light, and everyone that was in that section on the right-hand side jumped."
Wells and others were forced to wait on the plane for boarding stairs to be brought to the plane, but she said some passengers didn’t wait around.
"Everyone was not getting off the plane fast enough," Wells said. "There were several who jumped off."
Anthony Brickhouse, an associate professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, said the number of slides on an aircraft is determined by the number of passengers it can hold.
"In order for an aircraft to be certified, it has to have a certain number of working slides, and they have to test that," Brickhouse said. "It looks like everything worked out today, but this could have easily been a tragic situation."
According to MCO, three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The agency did not comment further on how those injuries were sustained.
"Everybody was running everywhere, and we were trying to figure out on our plane what was going on," said Jeremy Hunt. "Then all of a sudden you could see smoke coming from the back of the plane."
Hunt watched it all happen from his seat onboard a different Delta Air Lines plane. He said it was not a comforting sight as he was taking off to North Carolina.
"Every time the airplane would hit like a bump or something, and it would shake, I’d be like thinking, you know, ‘we're going to be okay’, and then looking out the window at like the wings – just checking, making sure they [were] okay," Hunt said.
What's next:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now investigating. According to Delta Air Lines, the airline will not be commenting further pending the results of that investigation.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by Orlando International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professor Anthony Brickhouse, and passengers onboard the Delta Air Lines Airbus A330.