Delta Jet Catches Fire While Pushing Back

[oldman]

First report tells us it was an engine fire. Nearly 200 or 300 passengers were evacuated. I read two different numbers from different news agencies. No one injured. This is the preliminary report.

This happened at Orlando International (MCO).

Delta Jet Fire

 

[hawkdon]

Talk about a hot start! !!!!!

 

[Michael Z]

Fortunately it was on the ground. In the air, the result is often quite bad.

 

[911]

What size plane was it? Not that it matters, just me being curious.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

It seems like the Three Stooges are running airports and flying planes, but according the NTSB. we're having less incidents this year.
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2024 Aviation Crash Data: In 2024, there were 1,417 aviation crashes, with 258 fatal crashes reported. As of early 2025, there have been 99 aviation accidents.
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[oldman]

What size plane was it? Not that it matters, just me being curious.

The plane was an Airbus A330 with 282 souls onboard, plus 10 flight attendants and 2 pilots. The plane had just pushed back from the gate and started for the taxiway to make their way to the runway.

When the plane was at the point of making their way to the taxiway, the pilot would have began spooling up the engines, one at a time. An engine catching fire at this point is unusual, but not unreal. It does and has happened before takeoff. The engines are spooling up to gain power and thrust for takeoff. It could have been a fuel leak to a number of other causes that made the engine catch fire.

I spoke with a United pilot who was at Orlando when this event occurred and he said the Delta crew handled everything perfectly and most importantly was that the passengers remained calm when they departed the injured aircraft. Hats off to Delta and their crew.