BA plane fire: Passengers to sue after plane burst into flames on runway
Passengers forced to flee a British Airways plane that caught fire on the runway are taking legal action, claiming the plane was "defective and unreasonably dangerous".
All 170 passengers and crew on board the aircraft managed to escape after the blaze broke out on the Boeing 777-200 as it was about to depart Las Vegas for London Gatwick in September.
Pictures from the scene showed smoke billowing from the plane, while one witness who was sat above the engine that caught fire told ITV News there was "pandemonium" on board as people tried to escape.
A lawsuit has now been filed against GE Aviation and Boeing on behalf of 65 passengers, the majority of whom are British.
They claim they suffered physical and emotional damage in the incident - but insist that the pilots and crew were not being blamed in any way.
James Healey-Pratt, of London-based Stewarts Law, said: "The pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop."
Among them was 63-year-old BA senior captain Chris Henkey, who was on his penultimate flight before retirement when he aborted take-off, declared an emergency and ordered the evacuation of the plane.
Mr Henkey later told NBC News it was unlikely he would take to the cockpit again, saying: "It's safe to say I've finished flying."
An investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board found that the plane had "multiple breaches in its casing", and several pieces of the engine flew out onto the runway during the fire.
Twenty-seven people, including all the crew, were treated for minor injuries, mostly caused by escaping down the emergency slides.
Healey-Pratt said the lawsuit did not specify any amount but said if there ended up being 100 claimants, then $100 million (£67 million) "would not be unthinkable" - adding that US courts had previously been known to award more than $500,000 (£333,000) per passenger.
GE Aviation has said the engine affected had different parts, and claimed it is "among the most reliable jet engines in commercial aviation history".
Neither Boeing nor GE Aviation has commented on the lawsuit.