Irish man in British Airways plane fire in US left ‘traumatised’

An Irishman who was on board an aircraft that caught fire on a runway in Las Vegas earlier this month has said he feared for his life during the incident.

Steve Bingham (35) from Hillsborough, Co Down, is one of 40 passengers who have hired lawyers to investigate the cause of the fire on British Airways flight 2276 as it prepared to take off on a 10-hour flight to London Gatwick on September 8th.

He said that he had been on medication for psychological trauma since the incident and injured his arm escaping down the chutes when the aircraft caught fire.

Mr Bingham described how the plane was accelerating for take-off when a loud bang could be heard and the aircraft jolted before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Many people were screaming, with some then shouting about fire. Then I saw thick black smoke from the windows on both sides of the aircraft, but the cabin crew were still telling us to stay seated at this point. Seconds later, the pilot ordered the evacuation," Mr Bingham said in a statement issued by his lawyers at the British firm Irwin Mitchell.

“Once out of the plane, the staff were screaming at us to run away. I started to run and looked back towards the plane to see that it was on fire with flames reaching twice the height of the aircraft. All I could think was that if it reaches the fuel tanks and explodes we will be killed.”