No fewer than 250 passengers and crew members escaped death by the whiskers on Monday evening after a fire broke out in the wheel well of a Delta Airliner leaving from JFK International Airport for Accra, Ghana.
The passengers were evacuated from the Flight 420 which takeoff was aborted after observing an issue with the airspeed indicator, causing the brakes to overheat and ignite the gear, The New York Post reports.
In total, 258 people — 250 passengers, 8 crew members were evacuated via mobile stairs.
A fire unit from the Port Authority Police soon responded to the scene to extinguish the fire, the Port Authority PBA confirmed on Twitter.
The same Twitter account also shared footage of what was described as a fire breaking out in the wheel well of the same aircraft a bit earier.
The small blaze was extinguished on the taxiway and no one was injured, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) confirmed to Fox News.
There were no operational impacts to other flights, PANYNJ added.
A representative for Delta Air Lines apologized in a statement saying: “Delta apologizes to our customers onboard Flight 420 for delaying their travel.
“We are working to get customers to their destination as soon as possible.”
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