8 injured as plane catches fire in Chicago airport

An American Airlines plane caught fire on a runway at O'Hare Airport here, local officials said.

Chicago, Oct 29: An American Airlines plane caught fire on a runway at O'Hare Airport here, local officials said.

The 161 passengers and nine crew members were evacuated down emergency chutes on the left side of the plane while the wing on the right side burned, Chicago Tribune reported.

"Seven passengers and one flight attendant reported minor injuries and were transported to the hospital to be evaluated," American Airlines said in a statement.

The American Airlines Flight 383 departed Chicago for Miami on Friday afternoon when it blew a tire and damaged an engine.

Fire at Chicago Ohare airport. Not a drill. We could see passengers exiting the plane #Chicago #fire pic.twitter.com/viYHSJwkc1

— Gabby Bangert (@deergirll) October 28, 2016

DEVELOPING: Chicago Fire Dept. says responding to incident at O'Hare airport; smoke seen rising from runway areas. pic.twitter.com/J9bX3BPPM3

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) October 28, 2016

A Boeing 777 at Las Vegas International Airport in September 2015 aborted its take-off to London when one of its two engines failed.

In October 2015, passengers aboard a Dynamic Airways 767-200 were forced to evacuate because of a fuel leak that caused a fire while the aircraft was about to take-off in Florida.

Both incidents are still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

IANS