Two planes at two separate American airports experienced freak accidents this weekend – with one aircraft colliding with a tarmac tug vehicle, and the other catching fire, forcing passengers to evacuate.
The terrifying incidents came just days after an American Airlines passenger plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter minutes before it would have landed at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC – killing everyone on board.
On Sunday at 8:35am, a United Airlines plane at George Bush Intercontinental/Houston suffered ‘reported engine issue,’ according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Airbus A319 aircraft was due to take off for New York’s LaGuardia Airport, when passengers began yelling to the crew about how the wing had caught fire.
Videos circulating on social media show people panicking on the plane as a flight attendant is heard telling them to stay in their seats.
‘No, it’s on fire!’ one of the passengers could be heard saying in response.
There was an emergency evacuation and passengers had to use stairs and the emergency slide to get off of the plane, FOX 26 reported.
The Houston Fire Department said it didn’t have to put out a fire related to the incident. No injuries were reported.
A passenger onboard the United Airlines plane at Houston filmed the flames coming off the wing
Passengers are seen on the tarmac of the airport after they were evacuated from the smoking plane. The FAA said the problem was due to a ‘reported engine issue’
Pictured: The wreckage of the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, January 29
Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport also captured the moment the two collided in midair
On Saturday night at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, an American Eagle plane being operated by Air Wisconsin collided with a tug vehicle.
The wing of the aircraft hit the vehicle specifically, causing the tug to flip over and pin the driver underneath, FOX 8 reported.
The driver, a 64-year-old man, was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition with serious injuries to his lower body and head. Police said he is now in stable condition.
The FAA said passengers were deplaned and bused to the terminal after the collision.
The agency said it would investigate the mishaps in Houston and Chicago.
Americans are already on edge after 64 people – 60 passengers and four crewmembers – died on board the doomed Washington DC flight on Wednesday night.
So far, more than 40 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River, where the plane and the Army helicopter ended up after the crash.
And on Friday, another medical plane crash killed six people in Pennsylvania.
Everly Livingston, 14, and her younger sister Alydia, 11, were among the youth figure skaters on the plane heading to DC. The team was headed back to the capital after an ice-skating development camp in Kansas.
Images of a performance done in November by Angela Yang and Sean Kay, who were both on the fatal flight, emerged after the crash.
Angela Yang and Sean Kay won first place in several categories in the 2025 Midwestern Sectional Singles & U.S. Ice Dance in Plano, Texas, in November
Two children pay their resects to the figure skaters who were among the 67 victims of a collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight
Family members of the victims showed up to the crash site on Sunday where they memorialized their loved ones
Wreckage from the plane, including a wing, was still visible as of Sunday morning
A memorial to the victims was set up at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the official practice facility of the Washington Capitals NHL team.
Staff Sergeant Ryan O’Hara, 28, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, and Captain Rebecca M. Lobach were all killed in the helicopter.
Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29, and flight attendants Danasia Elder and Ian Epstein were killed in the plane.
Families and friends of those who died have been seen flooding into the arena at Arlington, Virginia for the past few days to leave flowers and pay their respects.
On Sunday, the victims’ families visited the crash site. Dozens of people were seen walking on the runway along the Potomac River.
They arrived in buses with a police escort, the Associated Press reported. The wreckage from the plane was still visible as the memorialized their loved ones.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the mid-air collision between the plane and the helicopter, said Saturday that preliminary data showed there were discrepancies about the altitudes of both aircrafts.
The jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, when the crash happened, the NTSB said.
Data from the air traffic control tower showed the Black Hawk was at 200 feet, the maximum height army helicopters are allowed to go near Reagan.
This discrepancy has not yet been explained by the agency.
