An American Airlines jet taxiing for takeoff has safely returned to a Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport terminal after another pilot reported seeing an engine fire.
According to Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration, the engine fire was reported on AA Flight 294 as the pilot taxiied the Boeing 737-800 toward the runway sometime shortly before 7:30 a.m. Lunsford said another pilot saw a flame shoot out of one of the plane's engines.
American Airlines spokesman Paul Flanigan told The Associated Press that the pilot of Flight 294 reported an indicator light illuminated and they returned to the terminal.
Crews on the ground and onboard the aircraft did not see the fire.
"Right now, there’s nothing to indicate there’s an engine fire,” Flanagan told the The Dallas Morning News. “There’s no smell, no visual indication of a fire. But out of caution the captain decided to taxi back to the gate. It might be a faulty light. We don’t know. But as of right now it looks to be nothing.”
Rescue units escorted the plane, and the 141 passengers and crew of five, back to the terminal.
Flanagan said the light may have been a false alarm, though the FAA said an inspection later revealed a possible fuel leak.
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The plane has been removed from service and the passengers rebooked to Detroit.
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