Ignore Stewardess’ Plea for Calm : 13 Injured Evacuating Burning TWA Jet

Ignoring a stewardess’ plea not to panic, 13 of a TWA jetliner’s 228 passengers were injured during a pell-mell evacuation of the plane after a fire erupted in an engine just after the jet landed Thursday night.

“The stewardess told us not to panic. With that, there was fierce panic; everybody was terrified,” said a passenger from Iowa, Joe McCormick. “Everybody ran for the doors and the escape chutes.”

Trans World Airlines Flight 753 from St. Louis was making what was thought to be a routine landing at Stapleton International Airport about 8:30 p.m. Thursday when a flight attendant and passengers noticed flames flaring from an engine on the left side of the jumbo jet.

‘Wing Was on Fire’

“We just looked out and the wing was on fire; you know, one of the motors on the wing,” said passenger Diane Spring, whose hometown was not known.

Airport spokesman George Doughty said a flight attendant notified the pilot of the blaze and evacuation slides were opened as soon as the jet, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, was brought to a halt.

Passenger Jerry Adams said he was wrong in thinking the slides would be fun.

“I never knew it was quite that steep,” he said. “It wasn’t quite as much fun as I thought it was going to be, and when you get to the bottom, that concrete is hard.”

Thirteen people were taken to Denver-area hospitals and released after treatment of bruises, skin burns and one sprained ankle.

The fire was extinguished by Denver Fire Department crews that were standing by at the runway for another unrelated potential emergency.