A BRITISH Airways jet has caught fire as it was preparing to take off from Las Vegas, prompting the crew to abort takeoff and evacuate terrified passengers.
"There were 159 passengers and 13 crew on the flight," McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas said on Tuesday.
It added that seven people on board were treated for minor injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the fire broke out in the left engine of the 257-seat Boeing 777 shortly after 9pm (AEST) Wednesday and the crew immediately aborted take-off and ordered an evacuation.
"Passengers deplaned on the runway using emergency slides and (were) bused to the terminal," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
"The aircraft, a 777-200 experienced a technical issue as it was preparing for takeoff from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas" heading for London.
British Airways, which said there were two fewer passengers on board, also described the cause of the fire as being due to a "technical issue."
"Our crew evacuated the aircraft safely and the fire was quickly extinguished by the emergency services at the airport," a company statement said. "A small number of customers and our crew have been taken to hospital as a precaution."
An AFP correspondent at the airport said the blaze was quickly put out by some 50 firefighters who rushed to the site within minutes along with other emergency vehicles.
Passengers described scenes of panic on the plane with one witness saying there was "a lot of screaming" as fumes filled the cabin and the crew deployed the emergency slides.
Some of the passengers posted dramatic images and videos that showed plumes of smoke and flames engulfing the aircraft.
"Just got evacuated from our flight#BA2276 plane caught fire somehow omg," passenger Dominic Worthington said on Twitter.
Jacob Steinberg, a reporter for British daily The Guardian, said on his Twitter account that he was asleep on the plane when it came to a "crashing halt" on the runway.
"Initially told to stay seated, then shout of evacuate," he said, adding that the flames had apparently melted some of the jet's windows.
"They opened the back door and slide went down and smoke started coming in plane, followed by mad dash to front. A lot of panic," he said.
Steinberg said the pilot later joined the passengers inside the airport terminal and told them the fire was caused by a "catastrophic failure of the engine."
"The pilot looked pretty shook up to be honest," he said. "Has been flying for years, don't think he had ever seen anything like that."
Paul Berberian, a passenger aboard another plane that was on the tarmac at the time of the incident, described watching in disbelief as the British Airways plane caught fire and smoke billowed from the fuselage.
A video shot by Berberian and aired on CNN showed the stricken plane's passengers using evacuation slides and running away on the tarmac as emergency vehicles rushed to the site to douse the flames.
"We were all glued to the side of the plane watching this unfold," he said of fellow passengers on his flight.
AAP