Last Friday, the left engine on an American Airlines MD-80 caught fire shortly after takeoff from St. Louis’s Lambert Field, on its way to Chicago, with 142 people on board. The crew was able to put the fire mostly out with the onboard fire suppression system but, according to unconfirmed reports, their problems weren’t over. On the first emergency landing attempt, the gear wouldn’t lock so they had to go around on one engine until they were able to make it work. Passengers told reporters the landing was rougher than usual.
Fire crews doused the engine on landing and passengers left on the stairs. There were no injuries. “It’s obviously disconcerting to passengers to be involved in a situation like this,” American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith told reporters, “but the good thing is that all of the training and procedures went according to plan and the crew did a superb job.”
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