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On Sunday, a reported fire on board caused an American Airlines flight to be redirected to Houston, Texas.
On January 21st, American Airlines reported to NBC News that Flight 885, traveling from Texas to North Carolina, had to be redirected due to a fire. The airline stated that the mechanical problem was caused by the oven in the front galley.
According to information from FlightAware, the plane departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin at 2pm and was redirected to Houston. The flight eventually arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) at 3pm CST, but passengers faced a significant delay before continuing to their original destination.
The departure of Flight 885 from IAH was at 10:59pm CST on January 21st, with the arrival at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) at 1:46am EST.
As per American Airlines, there were no injuries reported from the fire on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft. NBC was informed by the Houston Airport System that the maintenance team inspected the aircraft upon its arrival in Houston on January 21st. The city’s fire department also responded to the fire report on the plane.
“After roughly half an hour, the warning was ended and officials from Houston’s airport system confirmed that the aircraft was no longer at risk for fire,” stated a representative for the airport.
After Flight 885 arrived in Houston, American Airlines released a statement discussing the mechanical issues that occurred during the flight. The airline stated that the plane landed safely and without any problems, and was able to taxi to the gate using its own engine power. American Airlines expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to their customers and thanked their team members for handling the situation professionally. Currently, efforts are being made to assist affected customers and they are expected to depart for CLT later tonight.
I have reached out to a spokesperson on behalf of American Airlines for their statement.
There have been previous reports of problems with Boeing 737 aircraft. Recently, passengers of Alaska Airlines filed a lawsuit against Boeing after a door-plug blew out during a domestic flight.
The legal case involved seven individuals and was submitted to the Superior Court of Washington in King County, where the emergency took place. The event occurred on January 5th, while Flight 1282 was travelling at an altitude of 16,000 feet from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California.
The source of this information is from the website independent.co.uk.