Category World News

More than 170 passengers and six crew were evacuated after the engine of an American Airlines jet – outbound from Colorado Springs – caught fire on landing in Denver.

The incident unfolded on Thursday after the Boeing 737-800 aircraft diverted from its Dallas destination and landed in Denver at about 5: 15pm local time (23: 15 GMT) in response to reports of engine vibrations by crew on board.

“After landing safely and taxiing to the gate at Denver International Airport (DEN), American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced an engine-related issue”, the airline said in a statement.

According to the airline, all 172 passengers and six crew members safely evacuated the aircraft and were relocated to the terminal. Twelve passengers with minor injuries were reportedly taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Dramatic images showed passengers clambering out of emergency doors and onto the wings of the plane.

BREAKING: An American Airlines plane carrying 178 people appeared to catch fire on the tarmac after making an emergency landing at Denver International Airport Thursday evening, forcing passengers to evacuate by climbing out onto the wing of the plane. https://t.co/gWlirSyILE pic. twitter.com/AOSU1iB24H

This is the second recent aviation incident involving an American Airlines aircraft.

On January 29, a midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a United States Army helicopter near Washington, DC, killed 67 people.

Last month, a Delta Air Lines regional jet flipped upside down upon landing at Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport in windy weather following a snowstorm, injuring 18 of the 80 people on board, though all passengers and crew members survived the incident.

Beijing said the three countries hope to find a “diplomatic” solution to Iran’s nuclear issue, Chinese state media reported on Friday.

“In the current situation, we believe that all parties should maintain calm and restraint to avoid escalating the Iran nuclear situation, or even walking towards confrontation and conflict”, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters before the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who “exchanged views on the Iran nuclear issue and other issues of common concern”, according to Chinese media.

Donald Trump, a year into his first term as United States president in 2018, withdrew from a landmark pact Iran reached in 2015 with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

Tehran continued to abide by the terms of the deal – which was considered a milestone for the administration of then-US President Barack Obama – but began slowly rolling back its commitments after Trump ended the deal.

The meeting in Beijing between the three diplomats follows a series of overtures from Trump since his return to the White House in January to resume nuclear talks with Tehran.

The US president this week sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for new talks but also warning that the US was within its rights to take military action against the country’s nuclear programme.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that he would not negotiate with the US while being “threatened”, and Iran would not bow to US “orders” to talk.

Iran was further enraged after six of the United Nations Security Council’s 15 members – the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and the United Kingdom – held a closed-door meeting this week to discuss its nuclear programme. Tehran said the meeting was a “misuse” of the UN Security Council.

Separately on Friday, Iran also slammed the US for “hypocrisy” after Washington announced new sanctions targeting its oil minister, saying they were “another clear proof of the falsity of these statements and another sign of its hostility to development”.

Ayatollah Khamenei maintains Tehran does not have or want nuclear weapons, but a recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was close to the requirements for a nuclear bomb.