United Airlines flight evacuated after flames erupt from engine during Houston departure

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On Sunday morning, United Airlines Flight 1382, scheduled to depart from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport to LaGuardia Airport in New York, was evacuated after flames were seen coming from one of its engines.

Just after 8:30 a.m., the crew noticed an issue with one of the engines and halted the takeoff while still on the runway. A video shared on social media showed smoke and flames coming from the Airbus A319.

Fortunately, all 104 passengers aboard were safely evacuated, using slides and stairs, and bused to a terminal. No injuries were reported. The passengers were later rebooked for a flight in the afternoon. The Houston Fire Department did not respond to the fire, and the FAA is investigating the incident.

In a separate event, the FAA's primary safety alert system, which was down earlier on Sunday, was restored after several hours. The outage came just days after a tragic collision between a passenger flight and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., which claimed 67 lives.