Fire on plane at John Wayne Airport is extinguished; ‘few’ minor injuries reported

A Southwest Airlines jet preparing to depart John Wayne Airport on Monday night was evacuated after a fire was reported onboard.

Southwest Flight 2123 to San Jose was evacuated through the plane’s emergency slides, authorities said. A tweet from the airport reported “a few minor injuries,” though officials said no one was hospitalized.

The fire was reported at about 7:30 p.m. as the plane was pushing back from the gate, according to airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson. The fire, in the auxiliary power unit in the rear of the plane, was extinguished.

The flight was carrying 139 passengers and five crew members, airport officials tweeted. An hour after the fire was reported, Southwest was still working on getting the passengers onto other flights the same night, Thompson said.

“We regret any inconvenience the event has caused,” the airline said in a statement.

At about 8:35 p.m., the airport tweeted that operations at its facility were “back to normal.”