SEATAC, Wash. (AP) — An engine fire forced a Delta flight with nearly 270 people on board to make an emergency landing at the Seattle airport before dawn Thursday.
There were no injuries reported aboard Delta Flight 2469 from Anchorage to Atlanta, said Sea-Tac International Airport spokesman Perry Cooper.
He said the fire was out before the Boeing 767-300 — with 255 passengers, two pilots and six crew members — touched down.
Pilots put the fire out by shutting the engine down and allowing cold air to extinguish the flames, he said.
Firefighters were on hand when the plane landed at about 2:30 a.m. local time in Seattle, but they weren't needed, Cooper said.
Several passengers on the flight told KIRO-TV in Seattle that they saw flames shooting out of the engine.
"It was very scary, and I was sitting with my two girls and just trying to keep them calm," passenger Stephanie Woods said.
Tammy McCann saw the flames, as well. "We could see fire coming out then (the pilot) obviously shut that engine down, and there was little comfort in that," she said.
The passengers also told the station that after the landing, the captain came out of the cockpit with tears in his eyes.
"The captain's a hero, he was amazing," Woods said. "He just came out and talked to us and everyone was clapping, and everyone was teary, and it was nuts."
Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said the names of the flight crew wouldn't be released for legal and privacy reasons.
The fire was caused by a rare engine surge, Durrant said.
When surges happen, the air and fuel mixture in the engine produces a flame that blasts out of the back.
The pilots and crew followed surge procedures, throttling back and landing at the nearest airport.
All passengers were rescheduled on flights Thursday morning, Durrant said.