An American Airlines 737 in Denver experienced a fire that forced an evacuation. Some passengers escaped with their bags, were lucky to make it out alive.
American Airlines Fire Incident In Denver
On Saturday, July 26th, 2005 American Airlines flight 3023 suffered an apparent fire underneath the aircraft. It may have been the tires or brakes, a common area of concern due to overheating on landing. This incident took place upon departure, with some passengers suggesting it was about ten seconds before liftoff. The airline called it a maintenance issue and the FAA had the following statement:
“The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the crew of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 “reported a possible landing gear incident during departure” at around 2:45 p.m. local time. – CBS News
The flight was carrying 173 passengers to Miami and six crew members, all of who escaped via aircraft door emergency slides. Passengers were said to have been accommodated later in the day. One passenger was treated at a hospital. The incident delayed some departures.
Footage Of Passengers Escaping With Luggage
Video of the incident was shared on X and other social media platforms. Images show the fire below, window exits open, and people evacuating from the slides many with luggage and some with children and luggage in hand.
#BREAKING: Watch as People evacuate from a American Airlines jet after a left main wheels caught fire
Watch as passengers and crew evacuate American Airlines Flight 3023, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, at Denver International Airport. The Miami-bound jet was forced… pic.twitter.com/RmUrXYj5Jp
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) July 26, 2025
This segment of the video shows a father with a suitcase in his right hand, and a child dangling in his left. He makes it down the slide but stumbles to the ground with the child in his arms.
#UPDATE: Please don’t be like this father focus on your child instead of your luggage. You can’t safely manage both, and it only leads to accidents, like the one that just happened putting others at risk too pic.twitter.com/8CgeGFSD0K
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) July 26, 2025
Sadly, he was not the only one to struggle with the slide as well as with their luggage.
When Will This End?
It’s easy to chastise passengers in far away lands that foolishly ignore their safety and that of their fellow travelers to take a carry-on through the aisle and down the slide with them. It clearly caused some to lose their balance, fall, and potentially jeopardize the safety of not only themselves and the child in their arms but also the passengers behind them.
There is nothing – not one single thing – in your luggage that’s worth a human life.
Some in the video had backpacks, laptop cases, and messenger bags draped around them as they fled. While it’s a direct violation of the rules and does not warrant an exception, I could look the other way on these items simply because they were unlikely to delay the evacuation. But jumping down the slide with a rollaboard? Not so much.
This is a very different problem than simply ignoring another one of the flight attendant or pilot commands. This is not the equivalent to leaving your phone on while taxiing to the runway. This is a clear safety issue. It impedes other people, it delays when time is of the essence, and in the process of going down the slide it could rip, tear, or puncture the slide itself. It’s clear passengers were not easily passing down the slide and safely to the runway with their rolling luggage in hand.
Aircraft manufacturers and safety experts determine the amount of exit doors required based on some exits being blocked (in this case, the over the wing exits were not used for this reason) and a strict 90-second escape horizon. That’s based on what fire can do to an aircraft. There have been many examples of people losing their lives because they were not able to get off the aircraft in time.
Serious penalties should be enforced, not by the carrier but by the FAA. Someone who chooses their carry-on over another human being shouldn’t be allowed to fly. And there’s no excuse. It’s in the safety cards at every seat, it’s on the videos (if the aircraft is equipped with IFE), and there’s no doubt the flight attendants would have been screaming for people to leave their luggage and go straight to the forward or aft exits. They chose a bag of clothes instead. It’s shameful, selfish, and could have gotten someone killed.
Further, there’s also a threat on the ground. Fire fighters are racing into a complicated, messy scene, with limited visibility due to smoke. When Asiana 214 crashed in San Francisco after a flight from Seoul
Maybe the first time I’ve agreed 100% with you.
BAN them for life and American (the county) Airlines at a minimum need reciprocal follow through on this.
No 2nd chances when they have this disregard for others live and safety.
This is a hot, but absolutely correct, take.
If we’re serious about public safety, a “no fly” list of idiots like this is far more useful than any of the homeland security pantomime DHS does on the regular.
What is wrong with you ppl? Calling them idiots? Ban them? Seriously, Wtf?! How rude is that? I hope when something wrong happens, someone makes sure to put you on blast. Most ppl will never understand what to do in a plane. Why? Cause it’s so rare they have issuies! You are the ppl that talk sht and put ppl down,but when it comes your turn,boo hoo. What a shame how you guys talk sht on ppl publicly. Its gross. Do better.
Ban anyone who brings a carry-on suitcase to the boarding area .
The passengers ought to check them in at the front counter .
Oh look, another Max incident, this one on home turf. The only safe Max is one that has been grounded and heading for scrap.
Oh look, it’s Overreaction Monday a day early.
But not shocking since the next thing this foreign ass clown gets right will be the first.
Just another foreign loser jealous of American superiority. Also note the 2 Max “accidents” were with incompetent FOREIGN pilots.
‘Just another foreign loser jealous of American superiority. Also note the 2 Max “accidents” were with incompetent FOREIGN pilots.’
Who were trained and certified in the corrupt and rotten USA.
US superiority? You make me sick laughing at you, you are such a bigoted fool.
How many people died? Zero.
While I like a big margin of safety, nobody died or came close to dying. The plane was not destroyed by fire.
Have you seen how tight and cheap AA is with baggage claims? Very tight. In contrast, EVA Air and Southwest are not. (Disclaimer: AA 2010, EVA 2023, Southwest 2025)
For safety, people should not wear shorts or sandals on flights.
Many people have died from this exact reason. You cannot allow people to slow the evacuation. Fire fighters rolling up to the scene can’t look at the plane and instantly assess the severity of the fire and whether or not there will be sufficient time for everyone to evacuate safely, but Janie in 28D can?
Tell me why I shouldn’t wear shorts when I fly?
Abrasions and leg burns, also cuts by jagged metal
The bags should be collected as evidence of reckless selfish stupidity. Allow news reports to identify these shameless travelers that created a hazard for both rescuers and passengers.
Confiscate and destroy any baggage carried off during an emergency evacuation, so that people guarantee their baggage is destroyed by carrying it off.
I also agree with the no-fly list. I have no pity for people so selfish they would potentially cause the deaths of others for whatever crap is in their bag. They are a danger to others and are not fit to fly.
If someone is impeding me by opening the overhead is it okay for me to yell at them and/or push them out of the way? I think I would do that.
Trample them.
I thought the same until I realized by that action I”d be creating the same hazard I was trying to prevent for the pax behind me … I wouldn’t hesitate to do so if I was the last person onboard, however !
“Trample them”.. While I agree that these people were idiots and should be held accountable, hardly seems an action such as that is warranted. Sounds like you need a good psych evaluation, before ever being let anywhere near a plane again..
Where have all these defenders of the uncouth come out of the woodwork?
Have the overhead baggage compartments retrofitted with a locking device. if the doors and emergency escape shuts are going to be used (this is before the fact), the pilot activates the devices.
Make sure to include in the safety demonstration an announcement telling the passengers about this change. You can no longer tell the general public how to behave – just make it impossible for the public to misbehave.
@jsm – I thought this sounded like a great idea, but then I pictured the same people who didn’t listen to instructions to leave everything behind struggling to open them and holding up evacuations even harder as they try to pry the doors open.
No, you make it part of the safety announcement. It absolutely will take people a little time to get used to it but an occasional judicious delay of a few seconds to disengage the locks after the seatbelt sign is off will get people used to the idea relatively quicly.
JSM has come up with an actual solution to the rolly bag idiots. Well done! Probably worth considering implementing, since some passengers will never choose to obey these restrictions and it only takes one selfish idiot to kill everyone behind him.
Indeed, I can think of no better way to create a massive gridlock during an evacuation for the very same reason we see these idiots behaving this way ..,.
HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER HAD TO EVACUATE AN AIRCRAFT ON THE RUNWAY!
A show of hands please. You do not understand the panic inside of people on the jet, and what’s happening. So stop with the calls for this and that. People are not thinking right, and Americans, especially, are selfish culturally to start with.
Everyone makes it off.
Yes, I have had to evacuate on a runway before. It’s crazy!…so most on here need to take a seat.
Criminal procecution and no-fly list. Done.
I truly don’t disagree with the prosecution concept but I’m not sure for what. Reckless Endangerment? I’m not even sure that’s a felony.
As a near-pacifist I will pop someone in their f——-g mouth if they try something like this next to me. Their crap is not worth my life or anyone else’s. If they want to sit and wait in a burning airplane until everyone else has disembarked, that’s fine.
The only real way to avoid this is by having the overhead compartments remotely lock during takeoff and landing. Unfortunately it’s going to take some dead people in a preventable disaster to force the changes needed.
We just call them democrats.
Maybe journalists shouldent call people Idiots. Unprofessional. Theres alot of words in our launguage and you picked that. You could have said dangerous situation, short sighted panic, ignorant passangers. But you picked idiot. Idiot.
@Mr. Yonobo – People exiting with luggage made a series of selfish and ignorant choices. Assuming they didn’t know to leave luggage behind, they ignored instructions shouted by the flight attendants, as they were exiting, they ignored the safety card, and they ignored the safety presentation. Skipping the card and demonstration is one thing, ignoring someone shouting “LEAVE EVERYTHING, DO NOT TAKE YOUR BAGS, COME TO MY VOICE, EXIT THE AIRCRAFT” is pretty straight forward.
Maybe next time I should use “ignorant”, “moronic”? At what point are people simply held accountable for their actions and inaction? If it was your daughter, five years old, and she died because someone chose not to follow any of the instructions because they wanted to get their luggage out – you’re probably not using any of the words I did above. In the 2019 Sukhoi crash in Moscow, 41 of 78 passengers burned alive while people in front of them exited with their luggage.
How about no overhead compartments, no luggage on board, just carry on bag that fits under your seat. Would make loading and unloading faster as well.
Written like someone who’s never been in a panic causing situation with their life on the line. It’s not common to see people make strange decisions in situations like this.
Also, not sure how this rubbish hit the news feeds this morning. I’d hardly call it journalism – just another freelance rant.
Written like someone who is part of the problem.
If I ever come across you impeding my egress in an emergency, best believe I am pushing you into the jet engine.
Every single person who took the carry on should be fined and possibly prosecute for obstruction .
These passengers should be corralled and executed.