Ashwin Menon: Flight that went horribly wrong

Washington: When Ashwin Menon and his spouse boarded a plane to go on vacation, they had no idea that the plane would blow up and catch fire. Menon, who is apprehensive about flying, told local news organizations that when the jet caught fire and the pilots ordered the passengers to get off, the passengers went into panic mode.

Meanwhile, a brand-new video has surfaced that shows the instant the passenger-filled plane caught fire at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on April 6th, just after it touched down. Black smoke is seen rising from the Airbus jet’s nose, under the cockpit, and a fireball is seen erupting in the footage obtained by local news site KOMO NEWS, located in the United States.

The jet, Delta Flight 604, from Cancun, Mexico, did land at the Washington airport safely, but when it was connected to the terminal’s electrical grid, everything went wrong.

According to Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Seattle airport, the plug-in shorted out, shooting sparks upwards and starting a fire just underneath the Airbus A321 aircraft’s cockpit. The crew was advised to open the emergency escape slides as soon as the pilots saw smoke. Menon, a software engineer from Seattle who was returning home with his spouse after a holiday, said, “I think people responded to that with panic; there was a little bit of jostling in the aisles to get to the exit.” But all in all, the evacuation procedure went rather well. It was as simple as jumping outside and onto the slides, and everyone was out in a matter of minutes. As stated by Menon, “I’m pretty afraid of flying,” the New York Post said. The video, which is circulating on social media, shows passengers exiting the aircraft onto its wing, jumping into inflatable chutes, and then sliding onto the runway to safety.

The remaining people had already left via the passenger loading bridge, with around 126 using the slides to get out. None of the passengers needed medical assistance, and the fire had already extinguished itself. “Slides were activated as a precaution, and those who remained on board disembarked via the back of the aircraft. All passengers were evacuated, and those that disembarked at the ramp used the ramp steps to return to the terminal. According to Delta, the aircraft has been taken out of operation for inspection and repair.

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