THIS is the moment more than 150 terrified passengers scrambled to evacuate a flight after a “possible landing gear incident” started a fire.
Dramatic footage shows smoke billowing from the American Airlines plane as it stood on the runway at Denver International Airport.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 suffered a “maintenance issue” as it was due to take off for Miami.
Panicked passengers were filmed fleeing the smoking plane on its inflatable slides as smoke continued to engulf the scene.
Video footage shows people escaping the jet as the terrifying ordeal unfolded.
“Flight 2023, you got a lot of smoke,” an air traffic controller tells the pilot in cockpit audio from Live ATC, 9News has reported.
“There was some flames. Looks like the smoke is dying down a bit,” they add.
But then the controller says: “You are actually on fire.”
According to CNN, the 173 passengers and six crew members were spooked when they heard a loud bang and spotted flames.
They were then evacuated from the flight.
The problem was sparked by a mix of of blown tires and the plane’s deceleration during braking, according to the airline.
Denver Fire Department rushed out to extinguish the blaze.
A representative from American Airlines stated: “All passengers and crew successfully exited the plane, and the aircraft was removed from service for a maintenance inspection.”
“We thank our team members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for their experience.”
One person was taken to hospital with minor injuries and five were evaluated at the scene, CNN has reported.
The incident is reported to have caused widespread panic among the plane’s terrified passengers.
Shay Armistead, 17, told the broadcaster that the incident was “kind of traumatizing”.
“The plane started vibrating and shaking really bad,” she said.
“We began to lean towards the left of the runway, accompanied by the noise of wind as they released and forcefully engaged the plane’s brakes.”
The evacuation process took around 10 to 15 minutes, she added.
It comes after a flight from Hollywood Burbank Airport was forced “nose dive” on its way to Las Vegas – causing passengers to fly out of their seats.
The Southwest flight had plummeted mid-air to avoid a second plane.
The aircraft later landed safely, but two flight attendants were injured in the terrifying ordeal.
