Latest news with #Hibbit
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
American Airlines Passenger Recalls ‘Terrifying' and ‘Horrific' Escape from Burning Plane: ‘I Was Shaking'
An American Airlines passenger is speaking out after a harrowing evacuation experience at Denver International Airport this week. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft originally departed Colorado Springs Airport at 4:37 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, per FlightAware, and was headed to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport at the time of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE. However, flight AA1006 was diverted 'after the crew reported engine vibrations.' 'After landing and while taxiing to the gate an engine caught fire and passengers evacuated the aircraft using the slides,' the FAA continued. Photos also showed many evacuating on the plane's wings. Ingrid Hibbit spoke with CBS News Texas at baggage claim after she and her family arrived at their destination. Related: American Airlines Flight Forced to Abort Landing to Avoid Collision with Plane on Runway The wife and mother told the news station that her family's seats weren't together, which made the emergency situation all the more frightening. 'It was nerve-racking. It was terrifying,' Hibbit said. 'It was horrific to get off that plane and not know if they were okay because we didn't really know what was going on with the plane.' 'Seeing the flames from the window and the window kind of melting and all the smoke and people screaming and everyone just trying to get off the plane' will be an experience she never forgets. Hibbit said she 'was hoping everything was okay, but we really didn't know for sure, for who knows how long.' Related: American Airlines Plane Carrying 64 People Crashes Midair with Army Black Hawk Helicopter Over Washington, D.C. She added that 'it seemed like a long time' before things were under control enough for her to find her loved ones. 'We were obviously in a state of panic, but I don't really know how long it was,' she told the news station. Hibbit said she was eventually able to communicate with her family via cell phone before they reunited. She noted that passengers who evacuated onto the plane's wings were not able to take slides down, instead using a scaffold. 'We had to kind of climb down. I was shaking,' Hibbit said. 'It was not stable.' Nevertheless, she said she's 'grateful to be alive.' Related: See the Moment Takeoff Is Aborted After Tires Blow Out on American Airlines Flight 'If this would've happened in the air, I don't think we would be telling this story at all,' Hibbit said, noting that she did not see fire trucks immediately and was still unsure of exactly what happened. According to CBS News Texas, officials at Denver International Airport said 12 passengers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In a statement to PEOPLE, American Airlines said, "The 172 customers and six crew members deplaned and are being relocated to the terminal. We thank our crew members, DEN team and first responders for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority." The FAA will investigate the incident. Read the original article on People
BBC News
14-03-2025
- BBC News
American Airlines passengers share how they fled burning plane in Denver
"Nerve-wrecking, terrifying and horrific."That is how one witness described her experience getting off an American Airlines flight that caught fire after it was forced to make an emergency landing in of the 172 passengers travelling on the flight bound for Dallas were seen standing on the plane's wing after it touched down in Denver, with large plumes of smoke encircling around on board, including six crew members, made it out of the plane alive, with 12 passengers treated at hospital for minor injuries, according to airport officials. One of those passengers, Michele Woods, told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, how everything about the flight seemed normal at take off. It was not until they were cruising in the air that she noticed a loud noise reverberating from one of the plane's US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) later confirmed the plane diverted to Denver at around 17:15 local time (23:15 GMT) after the crew reported "engine vibrations".But even when the plane landed, passengers soon realised they were still far from safety. "Everything was fine but then there was smoke filling the cabin," said Ms Woods, who was returning home after attending a trade show in at the front of the plane, she explained how she was one of the few in a position where they were able to walk off the plane once it had touched down. Other passengers, as now viral images of huddled people standing on the wing of a smoking plane show, did not have as straightforward an Hibbit, who was travelling on flight 1006 with her husband and daughter, was one of the unfortunate few forced out onto the wing before she could reconnect with her family on the ground."[You could see] flames from the window and the windows [were] kind of melting," Ms Hibbit told CBS. Dismounting from the plane proved to be a difficult task - not helped, she pointed out, by being dressed in Birkenstock sandals."I was like shaking, I was not stable," she to her already fever-pitch anxieties was the fact neither she, nor any member of her family, were seated in the same section of the plane. They could communicate only through text messages."I was hoping everything was okay, but we really didn't know for sure," she said, adding that despite the ordeal lasting only 10 minutes, "it was a very long 10 minutes"."It was a really great feeling to see that everyone was okay."She and her family finally touched down at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Friday morning, along with several of the other she said, had swept through the group, particularly after an "exhausting" episode that had overshadowed the start of their family holiday."If this would've happened in the air, I don't think we would be telling this story at all, because who knows what that would've been like," she said. "I'm grateful that everyone survived."
