(BBC)Passengers have been describing the terrifying moment a fire broke out on board their London-bound British Airways plane at Las Vegas ...
(BBC)Passengers have been describing the terrifying moment a fire broke out on board their London-bound British Airways plane at Las Vegas airport.
People started screaming and rushing to the front of the plane after its take-off was abruptly halted because of the fire, some eyewitnesses said.
All 170 people were quickly evacuated, some with minor injuries.
Aviation officials have started an investigation into why the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it has sent a team of investigators to the scene.
'A lot of panic'
Passengers said they heard a loud bang "like a tyre blowing out", causing the plane to come to a "screeching halt".
"I saw smoke from the window," David Willey, who was on board, told the BBC.
He said he was told "to prepare to vacate the plane by gathering by the middle exit but then we saw smoke coming through into the plane from that exit," he added.
Jordan Masters
Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg, who was tweeting from inside the plane,described "a lot of panic" as passengers rushed to the front of the jet to escape via the inflatable emergency slides.
One of those on board said the fire had melted some of the plane windows, Mr Steinberg tweeted.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses who were waiting at a nearby gate inside McCarran International Airport described the moment of horror when the plane became engulfed in smoke and flames.
"Everyone ran to the windows and people were standing on their chairs, looking out, holding their breath with their hands over their mouths,'' Reggie Bugmuncher told the Associated Press.
At the scene - James Cook, BBC News, Las Vegas
Lynn Alexander
It has been an emotional night for the passengers of Flight 2276.
British Airways has put them up in a huge hotel and casino complex in Las Vegas, illuminated by neon and patrolled by security guards.
Some travellers say they were unable to sleep as they contemplated what happened when their aeroplane tried to take off.
From the adrenalin-pumping moments when the evacuation was ordered, emotions have been powerful, from jubilation at their escape from a burning jet to horror at what might have been if the blaze had taken hold a few seconds later when the plane was airborne.
Many passengers have praised the actions of the British Airways pilot who was given a round of applause after he addressed them following the fire.
They also thanked the crew of the Boeing 777 and the emergency services at McCarran International Airport for quick, calm actions that ensured this accident did not turn into a disaster.
Firefighters managed to evacuate everyone on board and extinguish the fire within minutes after the emergency call was first raised, the airport said in a statement.
In an audio recording of the pilot's distress call with air traffic control, a male voice can be heard calmly saying: "Speedbird Mayday Mayday. Speedbird 2276 request fire services."
"Speedbird 2276 heavy, we are evacuating on the runway. We have a fire, repeat, we are evacuating," he adds.
The pilot later told passengers that the accident was the result of a "catastrophic failure of the engine", according to the Guardian's Jacob Steinberg.
British Airline Pilots' Association chief Jim McAuslan has praised the pilots and crew for the "professional way the pilots and crew dealt with this emergency situation".
Some of the passengers were later criticised for violating safety rules after they were seen collecting their luggage before exiting the plane.
A number of people who were treated for minor injuries caused whilst sliding down the inflatable chutes have already been released from hospital, British Airways says.
Jacob Steinberg/The GuardianAnalysis: Richard Westcott, BBC Transport correspondent
Most pilots will go through their whole career without having to deal with an emergency like this, but it's always on their minds.
During every inch of a take-off, they are constantly thinking, "if something happens, what would we do?". They'll have discussed it before each flight too, talking through each possible emergency scenario and how they would handle it.
And they'll have practised it every six months or so in the simulator, aborting take-offs.
Above 180mph (290km/h), they would be forced to take off in this kind of plane, no matter what the problem was, because there is not enough runway to stop. Below that speed they have to make split second decisions, how bad is it? Do we throw on the brakes? Do we evacuate?
This flight was travelling at around 89mph when they decided to abort.
One experienced airline pilot told me that this BA crew seems to have reacted in a "text-book" fashion, getting everyone off quickly and safely.
Flight 2276 was bound for London's Gatwick airport.
There were 157 passengers and 13 crew members on board.
A spokesman for Rolls Royce told Reuters news agency that the engine was not made by the company. British Airways uses engines made by either Rolls Royce or General Electric, the agency adds.
The incident shut one of the airport's four runways for several hours.
McCarran is a major airport in the US, handling more than 40 million passengers last year.
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