MD-80 Engine Fire Probed

An engine fire in a Chicago-bound American Airlines MD-80 forced the twinjet to immediately return to St. Louis Lambert Field on Sept. 28. None of the 137 passengers and five crew members on board was injured during the emergency landing. Flight 1400, bound for Chicago’s O’Hare International, took off, but returned to the airport within 30 minutes after the fire broke out in the left engine shortly after takeoff. Passengers were able to exit the aircraft on a stairway without panic. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board accident investigators were examining the civil transport and interviewed the flight deck and cabin crew in search of clues regarding the in-flight fire.