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Delta flight catches on fire after landing in Seattle – panicked passengers deploy emergency slides

May 15, 2024 | | Print Article

Wild video footage shows the moment Delta Flight 604’s nose burst into flames after it landed in Seattle while panicked passengers deployed emergency slides to get off the flight and away from the fire.

The Airbus A321neo landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last week where the incident occurred. The Delta flight landed Monday after traveling from Cancun, Mexico with 189 onboard. Passengers were instructed to evacuate the plane via emergency slides because of the fire in the nose of the aircraft, according to KOMO News.

“I think people responded to that with panic, there was a little bit of jostling in the aisles to get to the exit,” Ashwin Menon, a Seattle software engineer who was coming home from vacation with his wife, told the media outlet. “But overall it was a pretty smooth evacuation process.”

“It was like just jump out, jump onto the slides, and within a couple of minutes, everyone was out,” Menon remarked. “I was calmer than I thought I would be. I’m quite afraid of flying.”

(Video Credit: Fox Business)

“Once I got out of the flight you could see the fire burning right below the cockpit,” Menon commented. “I was glad everyone was able to make it out.”

KOMO News reported that officials said an electrical cord was to blame for the fireball. It was plugged into the plane after it landed and sparks from the cord reportedly caused the fire.

In the video, a fire can be seen exploding at the front of the plane with black smoke. That’s when everyone decided it was time to debark. The pilots told the crew to deploy the emergency exit slides and get everyone off the plane.

“The plane’s doors then open up and passengers are seen streaming out of the aircraft, with some walking onto its wings in order to reach a staircase down to the tarmac,” Fox Business recounted. “First responders are later seen gathering around the front of the plane.”

“During deplaning on the evening of May 6, the crew of Flight 604 from Cancun to Seattle witnessed smoke in the aircraft nose area after plugging into ground electrical power,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, slides were deployed and passengers still on board deplaned via the rear of the aircraft.”

“Passengers were fully evacuated, and those deplaned to the ramp returned to the terminal via the ramp stairs,” the spokesperson continued. “All passengers exited to customs in the International Arrivals Facility for regular processing. The aircraft has been removed from service for inspection and maintenance.”

Roughly two-thirds of the 189 passengers exited via the slides. The remaining passengers had already gone through the passenger loading bridge, SEA spokesperson Perry Cooper said.

“Seattle fire officials responded — though the fire had already gone out on its own — and evaluated a few people for possible injuries related to the slide. None needed further medical care at a hospital, according to the airport spokesperson,” the New York Post reported.

“Kudos to the airline crew who reacted as trained with an abundance of caution,” Cooper said in a statement given to the New York Post. “Rather have a little inconvenience than something that could have turned worse.”

The electrical cord has since been repaired and is operating normally, KOMO News reported. An investigation into the exact cause of the fire is underway.

Users on X sounded off over the averted aeronautical catastrophe:

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