The plane, which was taking off from New Jersey airport bound for Florida, had to stop the plane because one of the engines caught fire in the United States. (Watch the video above).
The blaze did not reach the interior of Spirit Airlines’ Airbus A320, but had to evacuate more than 100 passengers and crew.
Flight 3044 to Fort Lauderdale accelerated to take off on the Atlantic City Airport runway just before 6pm on Saturday (2), hitting what officials believed to be a bird, the airline said in a statement.
“The captain applied the brakes safely, stopped the aircraft, received an indication of engine damage and ordered the evacuation in accordance with our standard procedures,” the airline said, adding that the aircraft did not leave the ground.
The South Jersey Transportation Authority said all 109 people on board (102 passengers and seven crew) were safely evacuated. The officer said two people sustained minor injuries and “needed medical transportation.”
The fire was extinguished and the aircraft was left on the runway for investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration, an equivalent of ANAC in the United States).
Passengers can choose to have their ticket fully withdrawn and a voucher for future travel or the option of flying to Ford Lauderdale on another flight on the same day, the airline said.
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