Passengers flee as jet bursts into flames while preparing to take off in Florida - 15 hurt as 'engine leaks fuel and then catches fire.

Dynamic Airways Flight 405 caught fire at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Florida on Thursday, sending passengers fleeing for their lives out of the aircraft's emergency slides. 

Photos and video from the scene show the Dynamic Airways plane engulfed in thick black flames around 12:30pm before airport firefighters came and extinguished the fire with white foam. The fire has since been completely extinguished and everyone safely taken off the plane. 

Broward County fire officials say fifteen (15) people were injured and taken to the hospital, including a child. One person was burned while the rest suffered minor injuries.

At least 10 people have been transported to the hospital so far, and that number includes passengers and crew. The uninjured were placed on buses and taken back to a terminal.

The first call for help came in just after 12:30 p.m., as the Boeing 767 was on Taxiway B and headed for departure at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Dynamic International Airways Flight 405 was headed to Venezuela, airport officials told the Miami Herald.

Audio communication indicated a fluid leak followed by someone shouting “There’s a fire!” according to the Herald.

The FAA, in a statement, also suggested that a leak may have caused the fire. 

"At about 12:45 p.m. an aircraft taxiing behind the Boeing 767 reported that fuel was leaking from the aircraft before the fire started," the statement said. "Passengers evacuated via slides onto the taxiway."

Dynamic is a small airline that connects Fort Lauderdale, New York, Venezuela and Guyana.

The airport had been shut down for a period on Thursday, but reopened at 3:20 p.m.

"Fortunately in this scenario, 12:30 is not our busiest time," FLL spokesperson Greg Meyer said. "Had this happened later in the day it would have had more of an impact."

The National Transportation Safety Board says it hasn't yet made a decision on whether to launch an investigation into a commercial airplane fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.

Source:

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