12:58pm Monday 13th July 2009
A HAMPSHIRE teenager had a lucky escape after the plane he was on caught fire in the USA.
Charles Woolf, 16, from Fareham was on board the British Airways 747 as the cabin began to fill with smoke.
The plane was waiting to take off from Phoenix, Arizona for a flight to London Heathrow when the 298 passengers first realised something was wrong.
Charles said: “A strange but harsh smell filled the cabin – it made my nose tingle and burned the back of my throat.
“Some people started to cough, and a few started to worry and panic.
“After about five minutes, more people started to cough, someone towards the front of the aircraft shouted "fire", the doors of the aircraft opened and the slides were deployed.”
“People were pushing a bit to try to get to the exit, but I'd say within 20 seconds of the doors opening I was out of the plane.
“I never realised how fast you can go down those emergency slides – a lot of people, including myself, have little friction burns on their elbows.”
The incident happened at 3am Saturday morning British time, which was 8pm on Friday night in Arizona.
None of the passengers or 18 crew members suffered any serious injuries, although one person was taken to hospital complaining of shoulder pain.
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