Recently surfaced footage shows the wing of a United Airlines plane catching fire during takeoff at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. The incident occurred Sunday morning on United Airlines Flight 1382, and passengers and crew members were promptly evacuated from the aircraft due to a “reported engine issue.”
United Airlines issued a statement on the incident, explaining that it occurred just after 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 2. The crew managed to safely abort its take-off after the wing caught fire, and no injuries were sustained. All passengers were reported to have been moved to another plane in order to reach their destination.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement on the incident, which read, “The crew of United Airlines Flight 1382 safely aborted its takeoff from the George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport in Texas due to a reported engine issue around 8:35 a.m. local time on Sunday, Feb. 2. Passengers deplaned on the runway and were bused to the terminal. The Airbus A319 was flying to LaGuardia Airport in New York. The FAA will investigate. Contact the airline for additional information.”
The Houston Fire Department released a statement on X, confirming that they assisted in mitigating the “reported issue” with United Airlines Flight 1382. “HFD’s Airport Rescue Firefighters are assisting at @iah after a departing plane reported an issue on the runway. HFD assisted in deboarding the plane. No injuries have been reported at this time,” the HPD said.
The incident has sparked renewed concern about air travel safety, coming just days after the disastrous midair collision between a U.S. Military Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342. There were no survivors in the crash, with a total death toll of 67, making it one of the most devastating airline accidents in recent history.
Following the fatal disaster, President Donald Trump has criticized DEI within critical industries, such as air traffic controllers. “We have to have our smartest people,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. … They have to be talented, naturally talented. Geniuses. Can’t have regular people doing their job. We can’t have regular people doing this job. They won’t be able to do it, but we’ll restore faith in American air travel.”
Vice President JD Vance offered similarly commentary to Trump. “Something the President said that I think bears reemphasizing, which is that when you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means, on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government, but on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there.”
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Watch the wing catch on fire below:
Vance added, “And I think that is a core part of what President Trump is going to bring, and has already brought to Washington DC, is we want to hire the best people, because we want the best people at aircraft control, and we want to make sure we have enough people in aircraft control who are actually competent to do the job.”
Watch Vance below: