US jet catches fire on landing in Atlanta

WASHINGTON – A Delta passenger jet caught fire on landing at Atlanta’s international airport Saturday, but passengers were quickly evacuated and firefighters doused the flames, authorities said.

Delta said there were no injuries among the 43 passengers and five crew.

“We believe it blew one or more tires while landing,” said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. “There may be some hot brakes involved.”

“It resulted in a fire underneath the aircraft, in the landing gear area,” she said.

A Delta spokeswoman, Leslie Parker, said the MD88 aircraft had landed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport at 4:14 pm (20:14 GMT) when its brakes overheated.

“After the brakes overheated, the passengers deplaned via the emergency slides onto the taxiways,” said Parker.

Parker was unable to confirm initial reports of a blown tire. “I have no information from our Delta operations folks that there was a blown tire,” she said.

Delta Flight 2284 originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bergen said firefighters quickly put out the blaze and passengers were evacuated from the stairs at the rear of the aircraft and bused to the terminal.