Passengers forced to evacuate as American Airlines plane fills with smoke during landing

An American Airlines plane filled with smoke shortly after it landed, forcing terrified passengers to flee.

Sister airline American Eagle’s Bombardier CRJ900 faced difficulties after touching down at Augusta Regional Airport in Georgia just before 10 am ET on Tuesday.

Flight 5406, which had taken off from Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina, landed about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.

But the aircraft stopped on the runway – with passengers forced to urgently evacuate.

Onboard passenger Sean O’Conor captured alarming footage showing passengers, visibly shocked and perplexed, making their way onto the wings of the aircraft before cautiously jumping a short distance to the ground.

Following a safe landing in Augusta, the aircraft encountered a ‘maintenance issue. All passengers disembarked and were safely escorted to the airport terminal,’ as reported by American Airlines to ABC 7.

No-one was injured and the FAA is investigating the incident. 

On Tuesday, some flights leaving out of Augusta were delayed as a result of the evacuated plane. 

‘I won’t be able to make it to work tomorrow morning, whoever is watching,’ one impacted passenger, Carlene Shropshire, told WRDW. 

The Bombardier CRJ900, operated by sister airline American Eagle, got into trouble after landing at Augusta Regional Airport in Georgia shortly before 10am ET Tuesday (stock image) 

‘I overheard somebody talking randomly that it was a problem about a fire. The fire department was on the plane, but I didn’t actually see it, so I don’t know for sure. 

‘All I know is that they canceled the flight.’

This smokey landing comes just two months after an American Eagle jet collided with a military helicopter just above Reagan Airport in Washington DC, killing 67 and causing a massive explosion over the Potomac River.

The passenger jet with 64 people on board has crashed mid-air into the chopper, carrying three soldiers, while attempting to land at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC on January 29. 

Passengers of the commercial flight included members of the US figure skating team who were returning from the US Figure Skating Championships. 

On March 27, a congressional hearing reiterated the idea that the January crash was preventable, the Associated Press reported. 

High-profile plane crashes have instilled fear in frequent fliers, but aviation specialists say the risk is not as great as it seems.

‘Flying is so safe that your most dangerous part of the flight is actually driving to the airport and driving home,’ Jeff Baum, a pilot of over 50 years and the president of Wisconsin Aviation, told WMTV. 

He recognized that the series of ‘high-profile accidents’ was a ‘very bad start for aviation’ this year. 

Flight 5406, which had taken off from Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina, stopped on the runway – with passengers forced to evacuate

On Tuesday, some flights leaving out of Augusta were delayed as a result of the evacuated plane (stock image)

The number of American adults who feel ‘somewhat safe’ or ‘very safe’ on an airplane has dipped since last year, according to data collected by The Associated Press-NORC Center. 

Last year, about 71 percent of survey participants fell in one of the two above categories. This year, only 64 percent voted feeling any kind of safety on flights.

In the wake of what many see as chaos, about two in every 10 US adults feel that air transportation is ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ unsafe – a 12 percent increase from last year. 

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