SkyWest jet engine catches fire with 63 people on board

Passengers posted photos of flames coming from the engine of a SkyWest passenger jet that caught fire Sunday moments after landing at Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, July 2, 2017 | Photo courtesy of @raiyansyed Twitter, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The engine of a SkyWest passenger jet carrying 63 people caught fire Sunday moments after landing at Denver International Airport in Colorado.

The twin-engine Bombardier CRJ700, operating as a United Express commuter Flight 5869 from Aspen to Denver, experienced engine issues, SkyWest representatives said in a statement.

The airplane had landed safely in Denver Sunday afternoon with no indication of an engine problem until the plane was on the taxiway, at which point, the flight crew was alerted to the fire, according to SkyWest Airlines.

All 59 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane made it safely off the aircraft and were transported to the terminal, SkyWest representatives said.

The Denver Fire Department arrived on scene and extinguished the fire.

“All runways are now open as investigation into SkyWest fire continues. Other airport operations remain unaffected,” airport officials said on Twitter Sunday afternoon.

Passengers aboard the flight also posted about the fiery ordeal on Twitter along with photos and video of flames engulfing the engine.

One passenger who tweeted a video of the fire wrote, “Quick and immediate response on runway. Huge thanks to the pilot and crew for helping get passengers off safe.”

Once the flames were knocked out, the plane was taken to an airport hanger for further investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

SkyWest became a United Express carrier in 1997 with flights operating out of Los Angeles, California. SkyWest’s United Express operation has grown to more than 1,100 daily flights and includes hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • comments July 3, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    Makes you think twice about flying skywest, huh? Hope those guys over there aren’t half-a…..* the maintenance protocols 😉
    *Ed. ellipses

  • Not_So_Much July 4, 2017 at 6:57 am

    Perhaps aspen & Denver haven’t given enough money to Skywest to operate as did Washington County and City of St George did (or is it do?).

  • Proud Rebel July 4, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    “Passengers aboard the flight also posted about the fiery ordeal on Twitter along with photos and video of flames engulfing the engine.”
    Don’t you just love media exaggeration? To me, a “fiery ordeal,” would be a fire that injures or kills people. I just don’t see the “ordeal” here. The plane was already on the ground, fire/rescue personnel were immediately on scene, and the airplane crew got everybody out without injury.
    Wonder how many went through this “ordeal” are going to be suing for PTSD, caused by this “ordeal.”

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