Get the USA TODAY app Flying spiders explained Start the day smarter ☀️ Honor all requests?
American Airlines

Smoke in cabin after American Airlines flight lands in San Francisco; plane evacuated

The smoke injured three people, one of whom was medically transported after flight 2045 from Miami was evacuated, with some using emergency slides to exit

Smoke was reported inside a plane cabin during an American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Miami on Friday, injuring three people.

The incident occurred while passengers were boarding Flight 2045 at San Francisco International Airport when the crew reported smoke coming out of the cabin, the airport wrote on X.

Fire officials quickly evacuated passengers, who were taken to a different terminal, the airport confirmed.

Three people had minor injuries, with one of them needing to be medically transported, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.

Fire caused by laptop inside passenger bag

The source of the smoke was a laptop inside a passenger's bag, American Airlines told USA TODAY.

"The bag was quickly removed by our crew members and all customers exited the aircraft," American Airlines said in a statement. "We thank our crew members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

Some passengers exited the Airbus A321 on emergency slides while others deplaned using the jet bridge.

Plane caught fire in Florida earlier this week

The Friday flight is not the first American Airlines flight that didn't entirely go smoothly this week.

On Wednesday, an American Airlines aircraft headed to Phoenix caught flame when a tire blew upon takeoff in Tampa, Florida. That flight was delayed due to the "mechanical issue" with Boeing 737-800 tires, American Airlines spokesman Alfredo Garduño told USA TODAY.

All 174 passengers and six crew members, were safely evacuated to the terminal and no other flight operations were affected by the incident, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The passengers were then rebooked on other flights to Phoenix.

A United Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Denver lost a wheel upon takeoff on Monday but was able to land safely.

Contributing: Amaris Encinas

Featured Weekly Ad