Emily McGee, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages the airport, said the fire was extinguished and the plane was evaluated by airport fire officials after it returned to the airport.
The smoke from the brush fire was visible across the tarmac as other flights were coming in and out of the airport.
Houman David Hemmati, a California-based ophthalmologist, was settling into his seat on a Los Angeles-bound flight when the pilot’s voice rang through the plane’s cabin.
“We are on a ground stop,” the pilot told passengers, Hemmati said. “There’s an incident on the runway.”
When Hemmati looked out his window across the tarmac, he said, he saw a wall of smoke punctuated by the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.
He snapped a few photos with his phone and then sent out a message on X: “Praying it’s not a crash,” he wrote.
Hemmati’s flight was diverted to another runway and allowed to take off at around 1pm. As his flight climbed into the sky, he said, he saw smoke still hanging in the air.
“United is grateful to our crews and to the teams at Washington Dulles for their quick work to help ensure the safety of everyone involved,” the carrier said in a statement, adding that it is working to rebook passengers on a flight.
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