Around 1 p.m. Eastern this afternoon a United Express flight UA6122 experienced smoke in the cabin while taxiing for departure to Houston. The Mesa-operated Embraer regional jet stopped and crew deploy a slide.
Here’s video of the incident:
A @united flight just landed at @Reagan_Airport DCA and passengers are deplaning via emergency slide onto the tarmac. Unclear what happened to the aircraft. Video here: pic.twitter.com/KGn6tfNjHp
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 1, 2018
Emergency crew were called to respond. Passengers evacuated the aircraft and returned to the gate. Here’s the regional jet with slide deployed:
United plane having some issues at DCA pic.twitter.com/a1U69tHOuS
— Ben (@Scubavagabond) July 1, 2018
Media are reporting an airport authority statement that the aircraft was an ERJ-170, while I believe it was a -175. Mesa Airlines appears to be ferrying another ERJ-175 over from Washington Dulles as United flight UA3232 to take passengers on to Houston.
The only thing really surprising about this incident I suppose is that 6 of United’s 8 peak daily departures from Washington National to its Houston hub are operated by regional jets. The airline is growing its domestic operation precisely to attract customers with bigger aircraft that offer improved unit economics. Just not in and out of congested National airport it seems.
How is the zodiac killer supposed to fit into a tiny regional jets when he flies back to Texas? Shameful indeed.
It looks like almost every passenger evacuated with a backpack or carry on.