Wild video captures moment fireball explodes on Delta jet as passengers evacuate on emergency slides
Shocking new video captured the moment a Delta plane caught on fire, prompting a total evacuation, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last week.
The newly released clip obtained by KOMO News shows a fireball exploding and black smoke rising from the nose of the Airbus jet, below the cockpit, shortly after it landed on the night of April 6.
Delta Flight 604 from Cancun, Mexico, arrived safely at the Washington airport around 9:35 p.m., but after plugging the aircraft into the terminal’s electrical network, things went awry.
The plug-in shorted out and sent sparks flying — sparking a fire directly below the cockpit of the Airbus A321 aircraft, SEA spokesperson Perry Cooper said.
The pilots smelled the smoke and told the crew to deploy the emergency exit slides, he said.
One passenger told KOMO that the flyers freaked out once they learned they were being evacuated.
“I think people responded to that with panic, there was a little bit of jostling in the aisles to get to the exit,” said Ashwin Menon, a Seattle software engineer who was coming home from vacation with his wife. “But overall it was a pretty smooth evacuation process.”
The surveillance footage shows passengers walking out onto the wing of the plane before hopping onto the inflatable chutes, where they slid to safety and onto the tarmac.
“It was like just jump out, jump onto the slides, and within a couple minutes, everyone was out,” Menon said. “I was calmer than I thought I would be. I’m quite afraid of flying.”
About two-thirds of the 189 passengers exited via the slides, while the remaining had already gone through the passenger loading bridge, Cooper said.
Seattle fire officials responded — though the fire had already gone out on its own — and evaluated a few people for possible injuries related to the slide. None needed further medical care at a hospital, according to the airport spokesperson.
The evacuated passengers were brought into the terminal via a stairway to the loading bridge and were sent to international arrivals processing and customs.
Delta said: “Out of an abundance of caution, slides were deployed and passengers still on board deplaned via the rear of the aircraft. Passengers were fully evacuated, and those deplaned to the ramp returned to the terminal via the ramp stairs.”
The statement added: “The aircraft has been removed from service for inspection and maintenance.”
The electrical connection that shorted has since been repaired and is operating as normal, KOMO reported.
“Kudos to the airline crew who reacted as trained with an abundance of caution,” Cooper said in a statement to The Post. “Rather have a little inconvenience than something that could have turned worse.”
An investigation into the exact cause of the fire is still underway.
The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a Post inquiry for more information.
