More than 160 passengers were forced to evacuate a plane Saturday at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport after a fire began on board, according to authorities.
The incident unfolded around 9:00 p.m., when the New York City Fire Department received a call that the regional Port Authority had evacuated a JetBlue flight at the airport’s Terminal 5, according to CNN.
One hundred and sixty-seven passengers were forced to use the emergency slide exits and five passengers sustained minor injuries, according to CNN.
“On Saturday, JetBlue flight 662 with service from Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) was evacuated shortly after landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport due to reports of a customer’s malfunctioning electronic device or battery,” spokesman Derek Dombrowski said in a statement to CNN.
Fire on JetBlue plane landing at JFK causes panic among passengers https://t.co/NLu15YANlw
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) December 25, 2022
“Safety is always our number one priority,” he added. (RELATED: ‘Bomb Cycline’ Expected To Hit Peak Friday And Saturday, Grounding More Than 5,000 Flights)
Thousands of flights were canceled over Christmas weekend due to cold temperatures and heavy storms. By 12:oo p.m., ET on Monday more than 3,500 flights were canceled, according to data from FlightAware.
More than 3,100 flights were canceled Sunday while more than 6,800 were delayed, CNN reported.
Ahead of the winter storm, all Chicago and Denver airports canceled a slew of flights while residents were warned to stay indoors to avoid the frigid temperatures.