“There was a lot of screaming because it was a big explosion, and then everyone sat down,” John Lee of Houston told us.
HOUSTON – Passengers were evacuated from a United Airlines plane that veered off the runway at 12:00. Bush Intercontinental Airport In Houston on Friday morning.
United said that happened when the flight landed from Memphis and He went from the runway to the grass While heading to the gate.
The tower's voice is heard saying: “2477, see you on the grass, as we roll, oh, the trucks are on the way.” Audio obtained by KHOU 11 News. “We have a plane off the runway…”
There were no reports of injuries, but passengers said it was scary.
“There was a lot of screaming because it was a big explosion, and then everyone sat down,” said John Lee of Houston. “People are already starting to get worried and afraid.”
“Well, there was a huge bang, and the plane tilted, and everyone was gasping. And the lady on the other side of the road screamed,” Mike Allard of New Caney, Texas, told us.
“We landed fine, and then there was a loud bang. So I thought we had hit another plane,” Candice Davis said. “And then we just started going down into the grass. The plane started to tilt.”
Darren Foster said he traveled to Houston to attend his cousin's wedding and celebrate his birthday, but his trip got off to a bad start.
“When we landed it was kind of hard, like we came too fast or something,” Foster said. “I was kind of nervous and scared. I didn't know what was happening, and then they said there was a fuel leak.”
The passengers were evacuated from the plane and transported by buses to the station.
According to the airline, there were a total of 160 passengers and a crew of six.
The FAA has been notified National Transportation Safety Board They said they would send a team to investigate.
The plane was still on the grass early Friday evening, but workers were stringing a piece of fabric across the fence, blocking the view.
Flights to and from Bush were not affected, according to United.
Third United incident this week
Friday's incident is the third we've reported this week involving a United flight.
On Thursday, we learned that a tire fell off a United plane that took off in San Francisco. The plane landed safely at Los Angeles Airport.
On Monday, flames were seen coming from the engine of a flight that took off from Houston and the pilot had to return to the airport. United later said the fire was caused by bubble wrap at the airport getting sucked into the engine.
No injuries were reported in either incident, according to United.
United issued the following statement about the three incidents on Friday evening.
“We take every safety event seriously and will investigate each of this week's incidents to understand what happened and learn from them. Much of this work is done in collaboration with Boeing, the FAA and the NTSB as well as with aircraft manufacturers.” Individual components. As this work continues, each of these events is distinct and unrelated to each other. Safety is our top priority, and we will continue to do everything we can to keep our customers and employees safe.”
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”