Two Flights Evacuated at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport Over Fire, Smoke

Two Flights Evacuated at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport Over Fire, Smoke

DALLAS, July 30 (UPI) — Nearly 150 people aboard an American Airlines flight ready to depart Dallas on Thursday were forced to jump out of the aircraft after smoke was reportedly seen in the cabin, officials said.

AA Flight 1680 was about to leave for Chicago Thursday when the smoke was reported, as the MD-80 was still near the gate at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. Flight crew opened the doors and hurried all 141 passengers out onto the emergency slides, CBS Dallas reported.

Investigators are trying to determine where the smoke came from.

About an hour later, a Spirit Airlines flight from Florida landed at DFW as flames broke out in the plane’s landing gear. It is believed that hot brakes may have caused one of the tires to catch fire.

That flight was able to make it to the gate, however, and passengers exited the plane without needing the emergency slides.

“Upon landing in Dallas, Spirit Airlines’ flight 407 experienced a small fire on one of the landing gear tires, which was quickly extinguished by the DFW Airport’s Fire Department,” Spirit Airlines told ABC News.

CBS Dallas reported that neither incident disrupted traffic much at the airport, which was ranked in 2013 as the world’s third-busiest.