A United Airlines plane (stock image).Photo:Getty
Getty
In a statement provided to PEOPLE, the Federal Aviation Administration said that United Airlines Flight 1382 was preparing to take off from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston at around 8:35 a.m. local time on Sunday, Feb. 2, and was headed to LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
According to the FAA, the aircraft — an Airbus A319 — reported having an engine issue. United Airlines told PEOPLE in a statement that one engine had a problem and the crew halted the takeoff while still on the runway.
An image of George Bush International Airport, taken on July 27, 2023.Getty
United added in its statement that the crew and passengers “safely” deplaned on the runway using both stairs and an emergency exit slide, and everyone — including 104 passengers and five crew members — were taken back to the terminal via bus.
“There are no reported injuries at this time. We lined up a different aircraft to take customers to their destination at 2:00 p.m. CT,” United said.
The Houston Fire Department (HFD) wrote in apost on Xthat while they are “aware of the video” of the plane catching fire, “when our units arrived, there was no fire to put out.”
“HFD did not put out a fire on this incident,” the departmentclarified.
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The incident in Texas comes amid a time of heightened concern over aviation safety, following the Jan. 29Washington, D.C., plane crashthat sent two aircrafts plummeting into the Potomac River, withall 67 passengersnow presumed dead.
The crash occurred after a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided withAmerican Airlines flight 5342just before 9 p.m. local time as the plane was preparing to land at Reagan National Airport.
Soon after Wednesday’s crash, anothersmall plane crash occurred in a residential area of Northeast Philadelphiaon Friday, Jan. 31. A Learjet 55 took off from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6:06 p.m. local time and reached an altitude of 1,600 feet 30 seconds later, before it disappeared from radar, according to theAssociated Press.
source: people.com
