O'Hare plane fire 'could have been absolutely devastating'

An engine fire in an American Airlines plane departing Friday afternoon from O'Hare International Airport could have been catastrophic had it happened mere seconds later when the plane would have taken off, officials said.

Twenty passengers suffered only minor injuries after passengers reported a loud bang followed by massive flames on the plane's right side as the plane taxied down the runway at about 2:20 p.m.

Pilots of the Boeing 767, bound for Miami carrying 161 passengers and nine crew members, aborted take off just before lifting off from the runway, airline officials said.

"This could have been absolutely devastating if it had happened later or further (in the takeoff)," said Timothy Sampey, Chicago Fire Department assistant deputy fire commissioner for aviation.

Some of the plane's 43,000 pounds of jet fuel leaked, but not all of the fuel was consumed in the fire, fire officials said.

Sarah Ahmed was on the flight and described to ABC 7 the chaos in the moments after the fire broke out.

"We were almost up in the air. We were full throttle, full speed ahead, and then we heard this huge bang and there's fire at the window. And so everyone on the right side of the plane got up, jumped up and they're now on the left side of the plane."

"So there's a stampede at the left side," Ahmed continued. "The plane comes to a screeching stop. People are yelling 'open the door, open the door!' Everyone's screaming and jumping on top of each other to open the door. Within that time, I think it was seven seconds, there was now smoke in the plane and the fire is right up against the windows and it's melting the windows," Ahmed said.

Passengers hastily exited the plane onto the runway via emergency slides, some shaken and sobbing and others vowing never to fly again as they watched the thick black smoke billowing from their plane, video from the scene showed.

Juan Hernandez, Chicago Fire Department district chief of EMS, called the 20 adults' injuries minor "bruising" occurring either on the deplaning or sliding down emergency chutes. He said there were no smoke inhalation or fire injuries.

Injured passengers were taken to various hospitals, including Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Buses shuttled other passengers from the runway back to the main terminal, American Airlines officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Initial reports by the Federal Aviation Administration described the cause of the malfunction as a blown tire.

But Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans said it was an engine fire.

Conversation between the cockpit and air traffic control revealed how quickly the situation unfolded, ABC 7 reported:

"American 383 heavy stopping on the runway"

"Roger, Roger. Fire."

"Do you see any smoke or fire?"

"Yeah, fire off the right wing."

"OK, send out the truck."

"Sending them."

"American 383 can you give us any information right now?"

"Uh, stand by. Chicago American 383, we're evacuating."

"American 383 Roger, trucks are on the way."

Passenger Hector Cardenas said the plane was seconds away from taking off when he heard an explosion, and saw large flames and a plume of black smoke rising from the aircraft.

"Within 10 or 15 seconds, we would have been in the air," Cardenas said.

Passenger Gary Schiavone of DeMott, Indiana, said the flight crew was about 30 seconds into the preflight safety speech and had just finished the part about not taking luggage when the emergency occurred. Schiavone said despite that, several passengers still tried to take their luggage, which slowed the evacuation process.

"People, just leave your bags," he said. "Otherwise you're going to get people hurt."

Other travelers witnessed passengers fleeing the burning plane from inside the airport and expressed concern through social media.

"This is not good. Thoughts and prayers," Michael Silver wrote on Twitter from inside terminal G, where he waiting on a connecting flight to Buffalo, New York. He and about 150 other travelers gathered near the large windows at the end of the terminal and watched smoke from the plane turn into a raging fire.

"(There were) lots of gasps in our area. Someone yelled, 'I see people running from the plane,'" said Silver, 51, of Northern California, via text while in flight a short time later to Buffalo for an assignment with the NFL Network.

He said the fire appeared to be pretty quickly contained, as travelers watched numerous fire vehicles race to the scene. No announcement about the fire was made in the terminal or over a loudspeaker, which was concerning for some travelers waiting to board other flights, he said.

"(It was) a truly horrifying sight. Every travelers worst nightmare," Silver said. "The lack of official acknowledgment was kind of troubling. ... A lot of us were shaken up. And others just kind of went back to looking at their phones pretty quickly. It was very 2016 and a little surreal."

Despite the emergency, Silver's own plane departed a short time later after only a slight delay on the tarmac.

After he posted on Twitter, several people replied to Silver mistakenly telling him that the fire was just a training exercise. Flight attendants later confirmed that it was a real emergency, he said.

"Despite our alleged 'third world airports,' I still have faith in the system. (A) swift and effective response," he said.

Earlier in the day, an emergency fire drill took place at O'Hare, causing some confusion on social media when the plane emergency happened. "Don't be alarmed! The Chicago Fire Department at O'Hare is doing practice fires today on the airfield," one person said on Twitter.

Some flight crews mistook the real emergency for the earlier controlled burn, misinforming passengers, travelers said.

"As I was flying in I saw the bursts of heavy, really heavy smoke," said Connor Griggs of Minneapolis, in town "partying" with friends. "I never saw any flames, but the smoke consumed the plane and you couldn't see it."

Griggs also said his flight crew was telling passengers that it was only a fire drill and not to worry.

"It looked like it was coming from the back of the plane," said Matthew Bednorz, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. "We heard tire and then on the news they said engine. Scary. I'm glad everyone's OK."

Sean Sullivan of Chicago was on a nearby United flight heading to Cleveland to visit a friend.

"I boarded and the pilot came over the intercom and said, 'I know you guys know this, but there's a plane on fire over to your right.'" They could see orange flames. "It was still burning, for sure."

"The pilot said the airport was shut down now and he didn't have any more information. But about 15 minutes later he said, 'We just got word that we'll be backing out in 15 minutes.' And after just a few minutes, he said we're good to go," Sullivan said. The plane left at 3:05 p.m. rather than the scheduled 2:53 p.m.

"We taxied past (the American plane) and the entire right side of the plane was completely black behind where the tires were. All the police and fire trucks were still out there and all the slides were still there."

Sullivan said he was a little concerned getting on the plane and was talking to other passengers around him.

"We thought it was an engine fire. We were sitting in the same row that looked like where the fire was on the other plane. The guy sitting next to me said, 'Well, I hope that doesn't happen on ours.'"