Tire fire may have sparked airplane engine fire in Denver

DENVER – The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating after an engine of an airplane caught fire after landing at Denver International Airport.

A preliminary report to the Federal Aviation Administration indicates SkyWest Airlines, which operated the United Express airplane, reported a tire fire spread to the engine Sunday after the plane landed. The Bombardier CL600 had originated in Aspen, Colorado.

SkyWest released a statement saying all 59 passengers, along with the crew, got off the plane safely and the airline was co-operating with the NTSB investigation.

One passenger, Tyler Glasheen of Long Island, New York, told The Associated Press on Monday that he panicked when a flight attendant ordered everyone off the plane and he heard the words “engine” and “fire.”

Glasheen says his grandmother, on the other hand, was “cool as a cucumber.”