Engine pieces from the American Airlines plane that caught fire in Chicago flew THOUSANDS of feet

  • One piece of the engine was found nearly 3,000 feet away at a warehouse
  • Another was found about 1,500 feet away but on airport property
  • An air crash investigator said the fire started under the wing of the 767 

By Associated Press and Ted Thornhill for MailOnline

Published: 21:59 EST, 29 October 2016 | Updated: 07:01 EST, 31 October 2016

Engine pieces from an American Airlines plane that caught fire Friday on a runway at Chicago's O'Hare airport were found thousands of feet away, a federal investigator said.

Lorenda Ward, a National Transportation Safety Board senior investigator, confirmed Saturday that the fire was caused by engine failure. What caused the engine to fail has not yet been determined, she said at a press conference.

She says the fire started in a pool of fuel under the right wing of the Boeing 767.

Scroll down for video 

Footage from a terrifying video shot by passenger Jose Castillo shows smoke billowing from the side of an American Airlines plane that aborted take-off and caught fire on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Friday

In this photo provided by passenger Jose Castillo, fellow passengers walk away from the burning jet

One piece of the General Electric engine was found nearly 3,000 feet away at a UPS warehouse. Another was found about 1,500 feet away but on airport property.

Pilots aborted the takeoff of American Airlines Flight 383 to Miami. All 161 passengers and nine crew safely evacuated as smoke billowed into the air. Twenty people were taken to the hospital with injuries mainly from the evacuation, officials said. They had all been released by late Saturday, Ward said.

The fire burned the fuselage of the plane but did no major damage to the inside of the cabin, she said.

The airplane has been moved off the runway to a location where the investigation can continue.

Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride said the runway will reopen sometime Sunday after it is cleaned of debris.

Chicago firefighters investigate the fire damaged American Airlines jet

Comments (7)

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now