Fire Rescue News - SPIRIT FLIGHT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION TRIGGERS EMERGENCY RESPONSE
EGG HARBOR TWP.- Just before take off, over a hundred passengers were forced to deplane onto the runway at Atlantic City International Airport after smoke was seen coming from the plane.
Wednesday morning, plans changed for passengers on the Spirit Airlines 8:50 am flight bound for....Contiune Reading
Fort Myers, Florida just before taking off. "The plane did taxi out onto the tarmac and we sat there, next thing we heard the pilot went on saying going to be delayed that there was a problem," passenger Jim Lynch from Toms River explained.
Another passenger added, "Someone then noticed they saw smoke coming from out of the back of the airplane."
The FAA confirms smoke was observed coming from the APU or auxiliary power unit located in the rear of the aircraft that provides power when the engine isn't running.
And while officials with Spirit say it was "a standard maintenance issue", the situation immediately triggered the airports emergency response. "Next thing we heard that we were going to deplane and as we did there were firemen in silver suits along with state troopers," said Lynch.
After passengers were safely deplaned on the air stairs, they were shuttled back to wait in the terminal. "We are safe, we're secure. They responded to whatever the emergency was very quickly and they now secured another aircraft that's going to take us on our way."
But while passengers are happy they are safe and sound, not everyone is pleased with Spirit. "I'm not questioning the safety, it's just the inconvenience for me…it's been two times in the past three months."
Officials here at the airport say this was a very minor malfunction and incidents like this rarely happen here but the most important thing is safety. "It's basically a non incident but its always good practice and regardless of how small the incident is you never know what it can evolve into and we always stand ready," said Sharon Gordon with the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
Passengers say emergency crews responded within minutes. Officials at ACY say that's because they are prepared for incidents like this, thanks to regular preparedness training.
This story was taken from the news source stated above. It's content and comments are not necessarily the opinion of The Elwood Vol. Fire Company or it's members.
