Fire On Board Plane Forces Emergency Evacuation

By Zenebou Sylla, CNN

(CNN) Fire department officials said that a fire on board a JetBlue Airways plane forced more than 160 passengers to evacuate using emergency slides at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday.

The incident – which happened shortly after the flight from Barbados landed at the airport – may have started due to an electronic device and is under investigation, according to JetBlue.

“On Saturday, JetBlue flight 662 with service from Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) was evacuated shortly after landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) due to reports of a customer's malfunctioning electronic device or battery,” company spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said in a statement to CNN.

The New York City Fire Department reported a plane fire around 9 p.m. at the airport's Terminal 5, saying the regional Port Authority agency evacuated the JetBlue plane.

A total of 167 people were evacuated using emergency slides, the FDNY said. Five passengers had minor injuries.

“Safety is always our number one priority,” Dombrowski said, adding JetBlue is coordinating with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The-CNN-Wire
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