Houston–New York Flight ‘Safely Aborted Its Takeoff,’ Passengers Evacuated, FAA Says

A United Airlines plane at a gate at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Oct. 7, 2020. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

A United Airlines flight that was preparing to fly from Houston to New York City was evacuated because of an engine problem on Feb. 2, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Flight 1382 was due to take off from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport but it “safely aborted its takeoff” over a “reported engine issue” at about 8:30 a.m. local time, the FAA stated. The plane, an Airbus A319, was scheduled to fly to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport.

The passengers on board were removed from the plane and sent to a nearby terminal, the agency noted. It’s now investigating the matter, it stated on its website.

No additional information was provided by the FAA, which advised people to “contact the airline for additional information.”

In a post on social media platform X, the Houston Fire Department appeared to confirm the incident.

Airport fire officials assisted in the evacuation at the Houston airport “after a departing plane reported an issue on the runway” it stated, noting that no one was injured.

Footage that was uploaded on social media on Feb. 2 from people purporting to be on the United flight shows the wing of a plane on fire. Flight attendants could be heard telling them to stay in their seats. The Epoch Times could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the footage and has contacted the FAA for comment.

The incident occurred just days after an American Airlines-operated plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington in what was the deadliest airliner crash since November 2001, killing 67 people.

Preliminary data from that crash show conflicting readings about the altitudes of an airliner and Army helicopter when they collided near Reagan National Airport, investigators said on Feb. 1. They also said that about a second before impact, the jet’s flight recorder showed a change in its pitch, but they couldn’t yet say whether that change in angle meant that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash.

Data from the jet’s flight recorder show its altitude at 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, when the crash happened on the night of Jan. 29, National Transportation Safety Board officials told reporters.

Data in the control tower, however, show the Black Hawk helicopter at its legal limit of 200 feet at the time, officials say.

A small plane crashed into buildings in northeastern Philadelphia, killing seven and injuring 19 others, authorities say.

As of the morning of Feb. 1, officials said, there were seven dead—six on the jet and one person on the ground who was driving at the time. Most of the injured have been treated and released, according to hospitals.

The Learjet 55, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, took off on Jan. 31 at about 6 p.m. local time, climbed to about 1,500 feet, and then rapidly moved downward in elevation, officials have said.

During a press conference last week, President Donald Trump commented on the Washington plane crash and said he believes that it’s still quite safe to fly on a passenger plane in the United States. That statement was echoed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on the morning of Feb. 2 in an interview with CNN.

“Air travel is the safest form of travel that you can undertake in the country. Now, we’ve seen some cracks, and it rattles people when they see these disasters,” Duffy told CNN in the interview. “But air travel is safe.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.