Alaska Airlines B737-900 on fire at Calgary

Was just stubling thru some info for one of my next destinations and found this!!

Taken from ctv.ca

An Alaska Airlines 737 was evacuated Sunday morning at Calgary’s international airport. Two fireballs erupted from under one of the wings.

Passengers told CTV that even though the plane was filling with smoke, it took several minutes before the crew decided to open the emergency doors.

The plane was pulling away from the terminal and the flight attendant was in the middle of her safety instructions when suddenly a fire broke out.

One passenger says she yelled “fire” and the attendant stopped her instructions, seemingly unsure whether it was a hoax or for real. Then another ball of fire erupted and everyone in the cabin realized it was the real thing.

Passengers recount stewardesses yelling to one another, and then leaving, with passengers standing in the aisles screaming to evacuate. In the meantime, the cabin was filling with smoke. They say children were screaming and crying, and passengers were begging to get off the plane.

The crew then made the call to evacuate the plane. An Alaska Air spokesperson says the crew followed procedure. Caroline Boren says only two minutes elapsed before the emergency evacuation slides were deployed.

All 138 passengers slid down the escape chute to safety. Alaska Air gave everyone a five dollar gift certificate to a coffee shop and says it will help people re-book their flights.

Investigators haven’t determined the cause of the engine fire. Alaska Airlines says it’s not uncommon for a condition called “torching” to occur; that’s when residual fuel in the engine ignites and causes flames to shoot out towards the rear of the plane.

Sounds very serious, but everybody got out OK in the end!