Billowing black smoke and orange flames could be seen
pouring from under the plane's wings, sending passengers fleeing quickly from
the aircraft and across the tarmac before about 50 firefighters doused the aircraft
in minutes.
All 159 passengers and 13 crew members aboard Flight
2276 were able to get off the plane, McCarran International Airport spokesman
Chris Jones said.
Fire officials said 14 people were taken to Sunrise
Hospital by early Tuesday evening for minor injuries, most a result of sliding
down the inflatable chutes to escape.
The Federal Aviation Administration delayed flights to
Las Vegas from some airports for more than two hours after the fire to slow the
flow of planes while the disabled Boeing 777 made two of the airport's four
runways inaccessible. One of the runways reopened about 2 1/2 hours after the
fire.
Reggie Bügmüncher, of Philadelphia, said she was
charging her phone and waiting at a gate for her flight when she heard people
saying, "Oh, my God." She looked out the window and could see
"bursts of flames coming out of the middle of the plane."
"Everyone ran to the windows and people were
standing on their chairs, looking out, holding their breath with their hands
over their mouths," Bügmüncher said.
The plane's emergency slides were deployed a few
moments later and passengers quickly got off the plane. She said it was a
"bit more orderly" than she would have expected given the dramatic
nature of the fire and smoke.
Firefighters stationed at the airport reached the plane
two minutes after getting reports of flames, and within another three minutes,
everyone inside the plane had escaped.
After firefighters extinguished the flames, emergency
vehicles could be seen surrounding the aircraft, which was left a sooty gray
from the smoke and fire retardant.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor
said the left engine of the twin-engine plane caught fire. The National
Transportation safety Board was collecting information about the incident, said
Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the agency in Washington.
Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Jon Klassen said the
cause of the fire wasn't clear yet, but the fire didn't appear to breach the
cabin.
The Boeing 777-200, popular with airlines for its fuel
efficiency for long-haul flights, was bound for Gatwick Airport near London.
In its 21-year history, the 777-200 has been involved
in two fatal crashes, one in July 2013 that killed three passengers when an
Asiana Airlines flight landed short of San Francisco International Airport's
runway, and the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared last year and a piece
of debris from the plane was recently recovered on an Indian Ocean island.
British Airways spokeswoman Caroline Titmuss didn't
answer questions about Tuesday's fire in an email exchange but said
"safety is always our priority."
Titmuss said in an email that the airline was
"looking after customers" but didn't elaborate. She said the airline
would release more information later.
Las Vegas' airport is the ninth-busiest in the U.S. and
had nearly 43 million passengers last year. The airport has been taking steps
to accommodate more international travelers seeking direct flights to Europe
and Asia, including adding new gates to accommodate wide-body double-decker
jets.
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