British Airways plane catches fire in Las Vegas

A2Z · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:21

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34193767

Pretty scary, I wonder if the plane would have been able to take off, and then the fire to occur, must be what the passengers are thinking, it could have ended a lot worse.

My girlfriend is flying to London from JFK tonight (Delta)...not the best thing to read!

MrMoonX · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:28

Yeah I read about this in the early hours, seems like a lot of retards were taking their luggage out of the overheads if you read the guardian article as they had a reporter on the flight

neil_g · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:32

MrMoonX said:
seems like a lot of retards were taking their luggage out of the overheads

was just looking at the photos thinking that.

Cosimo · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:32

Fire and escape chutes deployed:

Putting out the fire:

They're very lucky that it wasn't more serious!

BuffetSlayer · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:33

Eyewitness Reggie Bugmuncher said she was waiting at a gate for her flight when she heard people saying: "Oh, my God."

OMG at her eating habits or at the incident?

Anyways, glad everyone is OK. Could have been very nasty.

chanjy · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:34

Glad everyone made it out safely!

However, I suspect taking off would not have been that much of a disaster, at higher speeds the fire might have blown out and a quick go around on one engine would not have taken long.

Jim99 · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:36

Looks pretty unpleasant, glad they made it out OK.

this_is_gav · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:37

A2Z said:
Pretty scary, I wonder if the plane would have been able to take off, and then the fire to occur, must be what the passengers are thinking, it could have ended a lot worse.

Possibly, but assuming they still had control of the rest of aircraft then it would have been able to fly fine, and the fire would have blown itself out. Obviously the chances of damage to the hull of the plane would have been minimal in such an instance.

Chances are only if smoke had managed to leak into the cabin would problems occur, which would have been much less likely with the aero blowing it away from the hull.

Chances are they would have headed to the nearest airport and made a successful emergency landing.

Glanza · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:40

Pilots talking to ground control, Impressed with how calm they are throught out it all.

https://clyp.it/jrvdzhrw

Diddums · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:08

Christ, I'm flying to Vegas on BA in December!

teenwolf · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:12

geez if that was in the air i guess it could have been fatal.

Nitefly · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:12

Worst "I have a girlfriend" thread ever.

Scam · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:20

Glanza said:
Pilots talking to ground control, Impressed with how calm they are throught out it all.

https://clyp.it/jrvdzhrw

Always amazes me how much absolutely critical info is being banded around so damn quickly on those recordings. The amount of stuff going on in 2mins21 is mental. Two go-arounds, diversions, fire crew etc? I'm sure someone with some knowledge can confirm.

Personally I find it damn hard to understand anything on a radio like that (I mean the quality, not the tech-speak).

In other news, my friend just made Captain for BA.. coincidence?

JBuk · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:22

Diddums said:
Christ, I'm flying to Vegas on BA in December!

Best cancel then

JBuk · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:23

A2Z said:
it could have ended a lot worse.
!

I know, imagine if they'd taken off and actually had to eat their airline meals

#Chri5# · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:30

The 2nd clip in the Beeb website looks to show people who'd evacuated the plane but had time to grab their bags? :eek:

russell664 · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:40

JBuk said:
I know, imagine if they'd taken off and actually had to eat their airline meals

We don't need to think about that catastrophic event! :mad:

koolpc · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:42

Blimey, that looks scary! Mid flight would have been absolutely terrifying!

MichaelAwkward · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:50

JBuk said:
Best cancel then

Yep. Best to never step foot on a plane ever again. Only way to be safe.

Kemik · 9 Sep 2015 at 12:50

I was talking to work colleagues about this and mentioned that it's crazy that people thought it was a good idea to grab their bags first. If I'm shouted at to evacuate I'm running for it, especially if smoke is coming into the cabin. My colleague's response was "Yeah suppose, but if your passport is in your bag then getting home will be a pain in the arse"... glad to hear people think that far ahead about themselves rather than ensuring as many people can get off as quickly as possible...