Passengers aboard Alaska Airlines flight 1288 were petrified as sparks flew when their plane landed onto the tarmac at John Wayne Airport in Southern California on Sunday.
The viral video captured the fearful gasps and shouts of the passengers as the plane failed to slow down and quickly made contact on the tarmac. The plane was carrying 106 passengers and six crew members — all of them were uninjured and “safely transported by bus to the terminal,” Fox News Digital reported.
Passenger Abhinav Amineni shot the video of the incident.
“I was panicking,” Amineni told ABC 7. “When I first saw the sparks I thought the plane was going to catch on fire.”
The plane was flying from Seattle. Alaska Airlines released a statement regarding the incident:
Our focus is taking care of our guests who were on board, including retrieving their checked bags. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience during this situation.
The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority. While this incident is a rare occurrence, our flight crews train extensively to safely manage through many scenarios.
Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) assisted in helping people get off the plane.
Fortunately, no one was injured. They were however stranded. Firefighters worked with airport staff and the pilots to safely get everyone off the plane, the statement continues. Airport emergencies are just one of the many things OCFA firefighters train on. That joint training with airport staff makes these incidents run smoothly.
According to Alaska Airline officials the incident occurred at 11:15 p.m., and the plane “experienced an issue soon after landing” during the tropical storm.
“The aircraft was unable to taxi to the gate due to an issue with its landing gear,” officials said in a statement.
Hurricane Hilary has created the heaviest rain fall in Southern California in 84 years, leading to severe flooding, Breitbart News reported.
A state of emergency has been declared in Nevada and California.