The plane was evacuated at San Francisco International Airport after smoke was released from a laptop in checked luggage, local news outlet KTVU Fox 2 reports. Credit: Jan Jankai via Storyful
Video taken during the evacuation of an American Airlines plane shows passengers rushing to retrieve their luggage rather than exit the plane after a laptop in their carry-on bag appears to catch fire.
Passenger Jiang Jiankai captured the moment on camera at San Francisco International Airport on July 12. Flight 2045 was headed to Miami but was quickly evacuated early Friday afternoon using both emergency slides and a passenger boarding bridge, according to a statement from the airline to Fox News Digital.
“Everybody off the plane, we’re departing,” an American Airlines employee can be heard saying over the intercom of the Airbus A321.
Passengers in the back of the plane appear to struggle to escape, and a woman’s voice can be heard saying, “Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.”
Laptop catches fire on board American Airlines flight in San Francisco
The San Francisco Fire Department was dispatched to the scene of smoke from the laptop and extinguished the fire on the runway. (KTVU/Fox News)
| Ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | American Airlines Group | 10.63 | -0.05 | -0.47% |
The woman appears to point at something in the overhead bin, while a voice can be heard behind her saying “Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead”, causing traffic to stall.
“Leave everything behind,” one flight attendant says.
At least one piece of luggage can be seen placed on a plane seat that was left behind during the evacuation.
“Come over here and leave everything behind,” another flight attendant repeated.
Rather than exiting the plane, the woman appears to point at something in the overhead bin at San Francisco International Airport. (Jan Jankai, via Storyful)
“A lot of us were shouting at people: ‘Get off now! Don’t try to grab your bags. Get off now. There’s no time for this,'” passenger Carlos Leiva told a local newspaper. KTVU Fox 2.
San Francisco Fire Station After passengers were safely evacuated to the terminal, officers responded to the scene to extinguish the source of the smoke.
The San Francisco Fire Department responded to the scene of the smoking laptop and extinguished the fire on the runway. (KPIX-NNS/Fox News)
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Three people were reported with “minor injuries,” one of whom was transported to a medical facility, SFFD said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
FOX News’ Jasmine Bair contributed to this report.
