The haunting words of an American Airlines pilot moments before the plane burst into flames revealed how suddenly flight AA 1006 escalated into an all-out emergency.
Air traffic control recordings released Friday showed the pilot wasn’t too worried when asked to confirm that mid-air engine trouble was ‘not an emergency’.
‘Nah, we just have a high engine vibration so we are cruising slower than normal,’ the pilot responded, according to a Live Air Traffic recording.
The pilot’s nonchalance quickly changed when the plane made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport shortly after 5pm on Thursday.
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! Mayday! … engine fire!” someone on the radio can be heard yelling.
Terrified passengers were seen fleeing via the wing of the aircraft as smoke billowed from the plane.
The narrow escape is the latest in a series of crashes and near misses involving US passenger jets, with 67 people killed when another American Airlines and a helicopter collided over Washington DC in January.
This week’s flight AA 1006 was only in the air for a short period of time after departing from Colorado Springs Airport at 4:52pm heading to Dallas.
Passengers were seen exiting the plane via the emergency doors and standing on the wings waiting to be evacuated
The engine caught fire after the plane emergency landed in Denver, Colorado
Horrifying footage shared on social media showed the passengers fleeing to the tarmac and exiting from the plane wings
The crew had initially reported engine vibrations before the pilot landed the aircraft at 5:15pm.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the engine caught fire as passengers evacuated the aircraft.
Emergency slides were deployed and passengers were seen standing on the edge of the plane’s wings while smoke billowed around them.
Emergency services were seen dousing the plane in water while the plane was still stationed at Terminal C of the airport.
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American Airlines plane erupts in flames at Denver Airport
One man was seen clutching onto a woman as they carefully navigated the wobbly wing of the aircraft.
Some passengers escaped the plane by climbing down a ladder. Fortunately, there were no deaths and only 12 individuals were transported to a local hospital, according to the Denver Fire Department.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was carrying 172 passengers and six crew members.
‘After landing safely and taxiing to the gate at Denver International Airport (DEN), American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced an engine-related issue,’ American Airlines said in a statement
‘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 flight was diverted to Denver shortly after takeoff when the crew reported engine vibrations
In February, a Delta plane crash-landed and flipped over at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
This incident marks the latest headline in a string of stories related to aviation crashes this year.
Less than a month after 67 people died on an American Airlines flight in DC, a Delta passenger plane crashed-landed upside down at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everyone on board survived after they were suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes.
The plane had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
Around 20 people were taken to the hospital for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has offered each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.
And the plane carnage is ongoing – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.
Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to hospital.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and nearby vehicles.
The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.
American Airlines said no one was injured and thanked the Denver Airport for their quick response
Emergency slides had been activated and people were seen walking around the tarmac near the aircraft being ushered to safety
Horrifying air traffic control audio revealed the pilot telling ground agents that they needed to turn around – but at one point he said that he couldn’t hear the radio because of all the wind noise, caused by the unlocked hatch.
The air traffic controller can be heard saying: ‘Pull up… the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, an FAA spokesperson said five people were on board the plane. They were all transferred to local hospitals with various injuries.
Other recent plane horrors include a mid-air collision over Arizona’s Marana Airport on February 19 which killed two people.
