Shocking video footage showed the moment the plane became engulfed in flames, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky – with passengers forced to escape via the plane’s emergency slides
A plane that was set to depart from an airport runway suddenly burst into flames this afternoon, forcing passengers to evacuate via its emergency slides.
Shocking video footage captured the moment the Delta Air Lines passenger plane became engulfed in flames whilst parked on a runway, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. The flames erupted from one of the plane‘s engines just as it was scheduled to fly from Orlando to Toronto. Inside the airport, a crowd of travellers queuing for their own flights watched on in horror as the emergency slides were deployed, sending terrified passengers flying down onto the tarmac moments before takeoff
Flight DL1213 was due to depart the Florida airport for Atlanta on Monday morning at 11am ET. But moments before setting off on the three hour journey, flames began to emerge from the engine of the Airbus A330, forcing crew members to deploy emergency slides to allow the passengeres to escape. The official caused of the fire has not yet been confirmed
Delta said there were 200 passengers, 10 crew members and two pilots on board the plane when the blaze erupted. “We appreciate our customers’ cooperation and apologize for the experience”, the airline said. “Nothing is more important than safety and Delta teams will work to get our customers to their final destinations as soon as possible. Delta will bring in additional aircraft to help get customers to their final destinations.”
Orlando Airport said: “The fire was contained and is out. Some passengers were evacuated via an emergency slide
