Boeing 737 catches fire during takeoff, passengers evacuate in panic

A Boeing airplane left a runway and ended up in flames in a field during a failed takeoff attempt on Thursday at an airport in West Africa.

The 737 skid injured at least 11 people, four of whom were sent to a hospital in the country of Senegal, the U.K.’s Independent reported.

According to multiple reports, the jet was owned by the Senegal-based airliner TransAir and Thursday’s incident shut down all operations at Blaise Diagne airport near the city of Dakar.

The aircraft and its 85 passengers and crew members were headed for the city of Bamako in Mali but the plane never got off the ground.

One video of the mishap posted on Facebook by Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko shows a frantic scene with passengers coming down an emergency evacuation slide as onlookers screamed.

Other images shared on social media showed the plane in the grass either on fire or covered with fire retardant foam.

At least 10 people, including the pilot, were injured when a Boeing passenger plane overran the runway while aborting takeoff from Senegal’s international airport in the outskirts of Dakar on Thursday, the country’s transport minister said. https://t.co/2X8QY7E5RE pic.twitter.com/BhV8htsaeZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 9, 2024

Transair Senegal Boeing 737-300 (6V-AJE, built 1994) was seriously damaged when it overran the landing runway at Dakar-Intl Airport(GOBD), Senegal. The left wing and engine caught fire but all 73 passengers were able to evacuate alive. There was unspecified number of injuries.… pic.twitter.com/SysgTSL3b8

— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) May 9, 2024

Air Senegal 🇸🇳 Boeing 737-300 had a take-off accident at Dakar, Senegal. No fatalities were reported, 11 injuries, including 4 serious cases. pic.twitter.com/yrysAFZgO8

— Shakil (@WheelOfLife2030) May 10, 2024

Sissoko, who was on the flight, told The Associated Press, “I saw my life flash before my eyes… I thought about my mother, my wife my kids.”

Four people were rushed to an area hospital with serious injuries while many others were taken to a nearby hotel. No information about what might have caused the incident was immediately available.

According to Fox Business Network, the jet was leased to TransAir earlier this year but had been in service for 30 years previously after it was originally purchased by a Romanian company called TAROM.

Boeing told Fox Business it is standard for its jets to remain in service for decades.

“Carriers operate and maintain their airplanes for upwards of 30 to 40 years,” the company said.

Boeing directed further inquiries to TransAir but vowed it would “provide any requested support to our customers.”

Thursday’s incident is just the latest public relations nightmare for Boeing, which has been under scrutiny all year over concerns its aircraft are not safe to fly – some of those concerns coming internally from current and former employees.

Thursday, the same day the TransAir flight skidded off the runway in Senegal, a Boeing 737-800 owned by Turkey’s Corendon Airlines lost a tire during a landing in the city of Alanya.

ABC News reported 190 people were aboard the jet when a tire blew out on the runway.

No injuries were reported and the airport was briefly closed.

The incident in Alanya came a day after a Boeing 767 owned by FedEx crash-landed on a runway in Istanbul on Wednesday when its landing gear failed.

BREAKING

Fedex Boeing 767 lands at Istanbul Airport, without front wheels.pic.twitter.com/js29DcReC0

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 8, 2024

No one was injured in the incident in Istanbul.