American Airlines passengers were told there was a problem before plane landed at DIA and fire started
DENVER (KDVR) — An announcement was made on American Flight 1006 before it made an unscheduled landing at Denver International Airport on Thursday.
American Airlines passengers were told there was a problem before the plane landed at DIA, and a fire started. Once the plane was at the gate, around 5:15 pm, smoke and fire could be seen coming from under the aircraft.
Cell phone video was captured of hectic moments as passengers evacuated the jet, which had left Colorado Springs and was headed to Dallas-Fort Worth.
12 taken to hospital after fire seen under American Airlines plane at DIA
Pamela Watson was on the plane with her sister and her 75-year-old mother.
'They came on the speaker and said they had vibrations, so we were going to have to slow the plane down and divert it back to Denver,' Watson said.
Watson was sitting behind the right wing but did not see any fire while in the air. She had no idea there was a possible serious, life-threatening problem until the plane had come to a complete stop.
'It was just a mess. No one realized the plane was on fire from the wing forward, so they were just getting their luggage like a normal exiting of a plane. When my window started melting, I started screaming the plane is on fire! Get off the plane!' Watson said.
Watson temporarily lost contact with her sister and 75-year-old mother as she evacuated on to the wing and to safety amid the fire and smoke.
FOX31 Aviation Expert, Steve Cowell, said he has seen nothing to indicate the fire started in the engine. Cowell said it's possible the fire could have been caused by some kind of leak.
The fire seemed to have caught many people by surprise in the terminal, too.
Erik Moon took pictures and video.
'I think the thing that was most surprising to me was little awareness there in the B concourse that anything was happening over there,' Moon said.
The airline said the pilot landed safely and taxied to the gate when the plane experienced an engine-related issue.
Joshua Sunberg, who lives near Fort Collins, was at the airport and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
'All of a sudden, I look over, and I watch a plane come in and didn't think much of it. It comes in, and once it gets in the bay, it just boom starts on fire,' Sunberg said.
4 cited during Denver street racing enforcement: Police
12 people were taken to hospitals.
The NTSB said it had no new updates on Friday. A preliminary report is expected in 30 days
On Friday afternoon, Pamela Watson was still trying to fly out of Denver back to Oklahoma.
'This is the most traumatic experience I've ever been through,' Watson said.
She's thankful she, her sister and her mother are okay.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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In April, 2015, I was in the Supreme Court for oral arguments. And then I was there again on June 26th, 2015 when the decision came down. Zach Wichter: What was that experience like being in the court for oral arguments in a case that bore your name? Jim Obergefell: I don't think you could ever prepare yourself to go to the Supreme Court as a plaintiff, let alone as the name plaintiff, when there's more than 30 other plaintiffs in the case. It would be overwhelming enough just being one of those 30 plaintiffs, but to have your name and your story and your face be what everyone sees, what everyone hears, what everyone knows, it's overwhelming. And I had to be in that courtroom. I had to be there to hear what the justices said, to hear what the states argued. But to be fair, I went into the courtroom feeling optimistic. I refused to think that the highest court in the land could possibly rule against us. And I was positive, I was optimistic, and that didn't change after oral arguments. And I was happy that I knew I had at most two months to wait for a decision. Zach Wichter: I've seen in other interviews you've said that you never really considered yourself an activist. So, how did you go from Jim from Ohio to suing the state of Ohio and becoming a gay rights figurehead? Jim Obergefell: I think it just happened. And honestly, it's because of John, because we loved each other and we wanted to exist. Learning that our right to call each other husband and to have it mean something wasn't going to be reflected on his death certificate... I mean, it did, it broke our hearts. But I think the more important thing is it really made us angry, the injustice of it, the harm that it was doing to us. So, I think it was that. It was that I loved John, he loved me back. We finally had the chance to say I do. But then understanding how our home state, the state where I was born and raised, would completely disregard us, made me angry, made us both angry. So, not something I ever thought would happen, but it's amazing what'll happen when you love someone enough, when you're willing to fight for what you know is right, and when you're angry. Zach Wichter: And you mentioned before you were also in DC the day the decision came down. What was that experience like, and what were you thinking about, and what would you have said to John if he was there with you? Jim Obergefell: I'm just holding the hands of friends sitting on either side of me thinking, all right, here it comes, here it comes. And of course I'm thinking, John, I wish you were here, I wish you could experience this, I wish it was your hand I was holding. All I wanted in that moment was to hug and kiss John and say, "Our marriage can never be erased." He wasn't there. I didn't have that joy of sharing that moment with him. I thought about so many people who I had met over the course of the case, the people who were coming up to me and sharing photos and telling me stories and talking about what this potential decision meant to them and what it meant to the person they loved, their child, was thinking about them. And then just the unexpected realization that for the first time in my life as an out gay man, I actually felt like an equal American. I wasn't expecting to feel that. And that was a really beautiful realization. I feel equal. It's about queer kids having a future, knowing that in the words of a mom and dad who stopped me on the street in Philadelphia with their child in a stroller, they said, "Thanks to you and those other plaintiffs, Jim, we know our kid can one day marry the person they love, no matter whom that person is." That's what I think about. So, I don't get too hung up in the "you're a historic figure" because that just, I don't know, feels weird to me. I focus more on the difference the fight I was part of has made for millions of people. Hundreds of thousands of couples have gotten married since June 26th, 2015. And that's something we should celebrate. I'm really, really grateful that I got to be part of that. And it's simply because John and I loved each other and we wanted to exist. Zach Wichter: Jim, thanks for coming on The Excerpt. Jim Obergefell: Thanks for having me. It was great. Zach Wichter: Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@ Thanks for listening. I'm Zach Wichter. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.
