A British Airways flight bound for Gatwick burst into flames on the runway in Las Vegas yesterday.
The Boeing 777 was taxiing towards the runway at McCarran Airport and travelling at 90mph when smoke began to fill the plane.
The pilot managed to draw the plane to a halt in 9 seconds, averting disaster and almost certainly saving lives.
The fire was caused when the left engine suffered a ‘catastrophic failure’ and caught alight.
Passengers report hearing a loud band during the incident and noticed fire outside the windows.
According to reports, the pilot remained calm throughout the ordeal as passengers and crew escaped on emergency slides.
Passenger Jacob Steinberg told The Guardian that he and his fellow travellers applauded the pilot when he made his appearance from the plane.
“He said he had been flying for years and had never seen anything like that.
“He was speaking to a few passengers later and all the colour had drained from his face.
“There were not enough words in the world for us to express our gratitude.”
Another passenger told CBSN: “We had a matter of seconds before it could have escalated into something very serious.”
According to reports, 13 people have been taken to hospital after suffering from injuries.
Most of those hospitalised suffered from smoke inhalation.
Despite the incident in Las Vegas, Boeing 777s are reportedly the ‘second safest’ aircraft in the world.
FearofFlying.com claims that there is one accident every 18 million hours of flying time.