American Airlines Plane Catches Fire on Runway at Denver Airport

Another aviation incident makes the headlines in the United States: an American Airlines flight was diverted, landing at Denver International Airport on Thursday, March 13, after experiencing unusual engine vibrations, where one of its engines caught fire, prompting an evacuation. 

American Airlines Flight 1006, operated by a Boeing 737-800, departed Colorado Springs airport, heading for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in the afternoon on March 13. 

The crew reported engine vibrations, leading to its diversion to Denver International Airport, where it landed at around 5:15 p.m. local time.

While taxiing to the gate, one of the aircraft’s engines caught fire. Passengers evacuated via emergency protocol using slides. 

According to the Denver Gazette, 12 of the 172 passengers were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained while exiting the aircraft. 

The Federal Aviation Administration has added this incident to its growing list of investigations. 

Seemingly since the beginning of the Trump Administration, there have been several crashes by smaller aircraft and several close calls for larger commercial aircraft, including the collision between an American Airlines plane and a helicopter that led to the ban of helicopters around the Reagan Washington National Airport, the overturning of a Delta jet in Toronto, a near-collision between a Southwest jet and a business jet a Chicago Midway and a string of strange occurrences, like the Delta plane that filled with a strange haze upon takeoff from Atlanta. 

These incidents and looming tariff uncertainty have led several major domestic airlines to lower their profit forecast for the first quarter: Delta dropped its profit prediction by 11 percent, United dropped eight percent, and Southwest dropped three percent. 

Add in the recent firings of Federal Aviation Administration workers when investigations and safety concerns are high and there is considerable uncertainty in domestic commercial aviation. Google searches for “Are planes safe now?” increased 900 percent in mid-February, with searches for “airplane crash” increasing 1,150.

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