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NYC90IA219

1990-09-09 · NEW YORK CITY, New York, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LGA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE EXHAUST PIPE FIRE IN THE APU WHICH RESULTED IN AN UNAUTHORIZED EVACUATION OF THE AIRPLANE BY THE PASSENGERS.

Factual narrative

AFTER LANDING AND DURING TAXI TO THE GATE, THE CREW ATTEMPTED TO START THE APU. THE APU TORCHED AND FLAMES CAME OUT NEAR THE RIGHT WING. A PASSENGER SITTING NEAR THE WINDOW SHOUTED FIRE. A PASSENGER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE SITTING NEAR THE OVER WING EMERGENCY EXIT OPENED THE EXIT AND STARTED AN UNWARRANTED EVACUATION WHILE THE AIRPLANE WAS STILL MOVING. THE CABIN AND FLIGHT CREW ATTEMPTED TO RESTORE ORDER, BUT MANY OF THE PASSENGERS WERE ALREADY OUT ON THE WING AND OPENING DOORS. A FLIGHT ATTENDANT ACTIVATED THE EVACUATION ALARM AND FLIGHT CREW BROUGHT THE AIRPLANE TO A STOP. THE AIRPLANE WAS COMPLETELY EVACUATED AND TOWED TO THE GATE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_NYC90IA219.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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