NASHVILLE, Aug. 7 (UPI) — No one was injured Friday when a Delta-operated SkyWest passenger jet engine caught fire while on the tarmac at Nashville International Airport, airport officials said.
Airport spokeswoman Shannon Sumrall told The Tennessean the plane had just pushed back from the jet bridge in preparation for its flight to Cincinnati, Ohio, when the incident occurred around 6:45 a.m. When the pilot turned on the engine, an auxiliary unit burst into flames.
The fire lasted for five to 10 seconds; as soon as the engine was turned off, the fire extinguished itself.
The plane was towed back to the gate and the passengers disembarked.
One passenger, Phil Cobucci told The Tennessean no one on board the plane heard any noise.
“The plane really just stopped in the middle of the tarmac,” he said. “The captain said, ‘We had a misfire,’ which didn’t really make it sound like the picture I saw (later) when they started popping up on Twitter.”
All passengers were rebooked on later flights.
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