This is the dramatic moment passengers fled an aeroplane when it caught fire moments before take-off.
The American Airlines flight, which was bound for Miami, was forced to abort its take-off from Chicago’s O’Hare airport after the “uncontained engine failure” led to the blaze on Friday.
An official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the danger of such a failure is that engine pieces effectively become shrapnel and can cause extensive damage to the aircraft.
Footage from the scene showed passengers using emergency slides and frantically running away from the burning plane as black smoke billows from its side.
The right wing was drooping toward the ground and appeared to have partially melted.
Officials said that 21 people were injured in the incident.
According to AP, passenger Sarah Ahmed told WLS-TV the plane was speeding down the runway when she heard an explosion and saw flames and black smoke. She said everyone on the right side of the aircraft jumped from their seats and moved to the left side.
“People are yelling, ‘Open the door! Open the door!’ Everyone’s screaming and jumping on top of each other to open the door,” Ahmed said. “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.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation into the incident, spokesman Keith Holloway said.