The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
ATLANTA — A Delta flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta caught fire after several of its tires exploded on landing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said.
The flight, Delta 2284, left Pittsburgh International Airport at 2:41 p.m., landed in Atlanta at 4:54, “and we believe blew a couple of tires on landing, causing a fire,” said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
“I just thought we needed to get off the plane,” passenger Kathleen Harrison told television station WSB in Atlanta. “They kept telling us they’re assessing the situation and then I think that a fire broke out, they opened the doors and then we all went down the emergency chute.”
All 49 passengers and crew were evacuated via stairs at the MD-88’s rear exit, Bergen said. An airport official said four passengers were treated at the scene and released immediately. None were taken to hospitals.
“The pilot was able to control the plane and got it stopped, but then there was a burning smell and then the right side of the plane caught fire,” Harrison said. “I’m lucky. I have my stuff with me and I’m going home, but there were people that were flying to Paris and other places and it’s going to be a long time until they get their luggage.”
Firefighters from the city of Atlanta, which operates the airport, doused the fire with foam, Bergen said.
It was an overheated brake, not the engine, that caught fire, said Delta spokeswoman Leslie Parker.
“There was obviously smoke,” Parker said. “The plane will be taken out of service and evaluated by maintenance, and they’ll be able to determine exactly what happened.”
“It is not unusual for tires to blow” on landing, Bergen said. Bringing the 149-passenger aircraft, which has a maximum takeoff weight of about 150,000 pounds, to a stop puts enormous strain on the brakes. “Brakes get hot. Fires can occur.”
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