American Airlines flight 3023 from Denver to Miami was evacuated after aborting takeoff when a landing gear appears looked to have collapsed and caught fire as it accelerated down the runway around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday.
As the plane reached around 127 knots (approximately 146 mph), a loud boom was reported by passengers and crew, prompting the flight crew to abort the takeoff immediately. Air traffic control communicated that significant smoke was visible, then noting visible flames beneath the aircraft’s rear-left landing gear.
Here’s air traffic control on the ground, “You are actually on fire.”
AA3023 – American Airlines Boeing 737 Max Denver to Miami caught fire on takeoff this afternoon and stopped on the runway. All the passengers evacuated via the emergency slides and all are accounted for.
Audio via @liveatc pic.twitter.com/VPsk2EBVrB
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) July 26, 2025
All 173 passengers and six crew members were evacuated safely via emergency slides. Video shared by passengers showed dense black smoke emerging from underneath the aircraft. Six people were medically evaluated – five received on-site care, and one was transported to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.
The fire was extinguished shortly after the evacuation. American Airlines explained that a mechanical malfunction involving a tire on the aircraft’s landing gear caused the issue. A ground stop at the airport lasted about one hour, causing more than 300 delays.
VIDEO: American Airlines passengers evacuate after fire incident at Denver airport
Passengers aboard American Airlines Flight AA3023 were forced to evacuate on Saturday at Denver International Airport after a fire broke out due to a landing gear malfunction.
The airline said… pic.twitter.com/tRsAXIydH3
— The Nation Nigeria (@TheNationNews) July 27, 2025
According to American Airlines,
American Airlines Flight 3023 experienced a mechanical issue on take‑off roll at Denver International Airport (DEN). All customers and crew deplaned safely, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. We thank our team members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for their experience. The displaced passengers will depart for Miami on a replacement aircraft later Saturday.
As in many similar incidents there is quite a lot of online chatter about passengers taking their bags with them during the evacuation. It slows down getting off the plane – first, the time spent getting the bag itself, and then additional time and space getting down the aisle and off the aircraft. Those could be seconds that matter (although here they weren’t).
Here’s the thing,
- People aren’t thinking clearly about the potential consequences – they are just defaulting to ‘grab your bag and go’.
- They aren’t thinking about others, they are thinking about saving themselves and their belongings. In an emergency it’s hard for most people to shift out of that, without training and practice.
- If you don’t take your bag you may be stuck without your belongings – it could be a few hours or it could be days or a week (or in the event of a fire, you may lose them forever)
- Your bag might have tough to replace items, or tough to be without items – your computer, phone, wallet perhaps.
Losing those items for a few days or forever, being without ID and payment cards is ultimately going to be fine compared to the risk that someone loses their life. But it’s not an explicit calculation that people are doing.
Whenever these incidents happen, some people call for overhead bins that lock to prevent people from grabbing carry-ons out of the overhead bins (so they’d be limited to their belongings under the seat). The problem is that people would then spend even more time battling the bins themselves, not realizing they weren’t going to be able to get in. That would be worse! And passengers spending time filming inside the cabin is often even more time-consuming. The selfies aren’t going to stop!
Wow! Second time AA has had an evacuation in Denver within a year.
Gary,
Would you rather lose your bag or it’s contents, or your life?
You seem to always defend those who take their carry on bags in evacuation situations.
Well, I will only be thinking of myself when I shove one of you morons grabbing your bag to the ground and walk over you. You want your bag? Wait until everybody else has deplaned and then grab it.
The plane is on fire and filling with smoke. “Here Fred, hold my bag while I record this!” Ugh.
140 plus miles per hour is a high speed rejected takeoff. The question is why they had to do it in the first case (the reason for the “boom” passengers heard).
It was hot and DEN is high altitude; the flight was likely at max takeoff weight.
There was a UA MAX 9 that had a landing gear failure due to brake overheating after trying to burn off excess fuel in a similarly hot situation w/ extensive taxiing. at DEN
Not great. Glad everyone is alright. One notable exception to the ‘leave your bags’ guidance is please do bring your dog/cat/per carrier with pet inside. Incidents like this are why I’ll never put a per in cargo, because there’s no ‘evacuating’ them when this happens. Anyway, I know there are some dog-haters on here, so… see y’all soon!
Every fool including the idiot that dropped he’s baby because he had his suitcase in his hand needs to be FINED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Tim ja — Good luck with that. I mean, I’m with you, please leave bags behind, evacuate as safely and quickly as possible so everyone can survive, but, like, do you really think the FAA is gonna go after these folks, seek penalties, etc. Like, how reasonable is it to expect rigorous enforcement, and where do we draw the line?
An example: You really have to go to the bathroom, but the pilots have the ‘seatbelt sign’ on for an excessive time (maybe they know things you don’t, like a thunderstorm ahead), but, hey, it’s either ‘go in your seat,’ or get up, politely explain to the FAs that it’s an ‘emergency,’ do your best not to harm anyone, and get it done, son! Flush, wash your hands, return to your seat, fasten up (of course, a mere minute later, the seatbelt sign does come off). So, how much should that cost? $5? $500? Is it ‘tamper with a smoke detector $250,000’ worthy?
While we’re at it, let’s talk speed limits. Are you a ‘if you’re over, it’s illegal’ type? Well, good news, that’s the ‘law,’ so… or, is 5 over okay if everyone else is doing it? Where’s ‘the line,’ sir?!
Steve M: I couldn’t agree with you more. Material items can be replaced. Lives cannot.
People are such a disappointment.
Unlikely that the pilots aborted the takeoff because passengers reported a loud boom…pilots would have had other indicators of the problem…
I would absolutely take my backpack with me. It has life-saving medication in it. That’s why I always carry it with me on something that’s grab and go. My bag in my overhead? Screw it. Don’t need it.
Finalist for father of the year, the clumsy guy who saved his carry-on luggage and use the kid to break his fall a few steps from the bottom of the slide. Years from now when he’s in the old folks home, hopefully the kid remembers the moment.
Reduce the number of items people can bring into the cabin, reduce the number of items passengers will try to grab during an evacuation.
Let passengers know that anyone bringing luggage in emergency evacuation will be put do not fly list.
Some people have medicines or devices that they need nearby.
In an emergency, I don’t care how smart/cautious/trained/unfazed you can be- you have to throw out all expectations out the proverbial window.
For those of you who have been in a life threatening situation (like Tornado, Flood, Fire, Car crash, Ambush, etc.) you know what I am talking about.
Time stands still, yet you are making decisions in the space of seconds that looking back- really could be the difference between life, injury, and even death.
So I have sympathy for those who make ‘mistakes’ in an emergency. I really don’t think they are doing it on purpose.
-Jon
Would everyone who has their carry-on bags please assemble over there. Those who left their bags on the airplane, follow me. I’m taking you guys into the terminal until we can retrieve your bags. The police will arrest the other group.
I agree that there does not seem to be all that much harm in grabbing a small bag or suitcase that’s within immediate reach during an evacuation, but commercial airplanes really out to have some master locking mechanism for the overhead bins that can be activated during severe turbulence and during emergency evacuations to prevent people from attempting to extract larger items. (Not the bins containing any emergency equipment, obviously.)
(I also wish the comment section on this blog had an easy way to edit typos after posting.)
@Jon Biedermann — Well said, sir.
@Mike Hunt — Yyyyup. And only after hitting ‘POST COMMENT’ do I get 20/20 vision for my typos. Beforehand, I’m like blinded. Weird.
is mike hunt in the parking lot?
How about not complaining about what people do in a emergency. If they all got off and some grab their bags so be it. Next time you go and experience it and well do a second by second critique about how you the almighty traveler acts. Then well post it to the internet with your mug shot.
So… who still wants to fly a MAX after this? Thought there was so many checks and inspections with it; must have been lazy inspectors. Root cause is American corporate greed over safety.
The hate Boeing crowd has checked in. Tires wear and some are faulty. How is this a Boeing Max problem?
@jns — Good point, sir. We should hate Boeing not because of tires, or this particular incident, but because of their corporate malfeasance, namely as it relates to the hundreds of lives lost in the Lion Air and Ethiopian crashes ultimately caused by Boeing’s excessive greed, which they admitted to, and unfortunately, 45/47’s regime gave them a ‘pass’ on. No, it wasn’t those pilots’ fault; it was corruption. Please, reiterate your failed talking points again, so the rest of us can keep reminding others of why Boeing deserves that recent shame.