Escape chaos on fiery American Airlines jet detailed by NTSB

Panicked passengers on an American Airlines widebody aircraft in Chicago last October demanded to evacuate as a massive fire engulfed the right wing, and were blasted by exhaust from an engine that pilots hadn’t shut down. The US NTSB released more than 500 pages of investigative reports Thursday detailing how a metallurgical flaw led to a violent right engine failure, a fire that raged outside the plane, and the ensuing evacuation. Flight attendants described a chaotic scene as they at first tried to prevent passengers from fleeing because the plane’s left engine was still operating and was buffeting 2 of the 3 escape slides. They relented after smoke began filling the cabin, and some of the passengers were blown to the tarmac by the blast of air from the working engine while they attempted to evacuate. <br/>