United Airlines Flight Aborts Takeoff After Engine Catches Fire

A United Airlines plane with 153 people on board had to abort its takeoff on Memorial Day after an engine caught fire.

Dramatic video captured by a passenger shows black smoke billowing from beneath the left wing as the plane began to pick up speed on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The plane was due to fly to Seattle at around 2 p.m. on Monday but the flight had to be aborted and 148 passengers and five crew members were forced to evacuate.

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The incident comes after the embattled airline has suffered a string of high-profile problems in recent months, with flights hit by maintenance issues, sewage trickling into the cabin from an overflowing toilet, engine failure, and a plane skidding off the runway after landing. There have been no reports of any injuries.

Following widespread reports of the various incidents, United CEO Scott Kirby emailed customers in March to assure them that the airline was safe and that "these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus."

Passenger Ivan Paloalto shared a clip of the latest incident with news agency Storyful, which was then shared by other news outlets on X, formerly Twitter.

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Paloalto told Storyful that he heard an explosion as the plane prepared for takeoff, adding: "I felt the impact on my window. As I looked, the engine was on fire and smoke was coming out."

As passengers evacuated the plane, an Airbus A320, they were met by medics and crews from the fire department.

An airline spokesperson told Newsweek in an email in the early hours of Tuesday morning: "United flight 2091 from Chicago to Seattle was delayed prior to departure due to an issue with the engine, which our local ground crew and emergency responders immediately addressed. The plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers."

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A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson said: "Normal operations resumed at 2:45 p.m. local time at Chicago O'Hare International Airport after United Airlines Flight 2091 aborted takeoff due to a reported engine fire around 2 p.m. local time on Monday, May 27. The Airbus A320 was towed to the gate where passengers safely deplaned. The FAA temporarily halted arrivals into ORD [Chicago O'Hare International Airport]."

United Airlines is not the only carrier that has been in the news following flight issues. Recent months have seen a widely reported near-miss between planes, severe turbulence issues and problems with unruly passengers.

However, experts insist that air travel remains safe and is statistically safer than traveling by car, according to government figures.

"I think people are missing the greater point by jumping on these scattered incidents," author and pilot Patrick Smith told the Boston Globe. "Statistically, commercial air travel's never been safer. Major accidents today are few and far between, whereas in the old days, we'd see one or more every year. That's lost on people."

Update 05/28/24, 10:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from the FAA.