O'Hare fire: Airbus A320 engine catches fire, delaying United Flight 2091 to Seattle, FAA says

CHICAGO (WLS) — It was a smoky false start for a cross-country flight.

Cell phone video taken from inside a Seattle-bound plane at O'Hare on Monday afternoon shows smoke billowing from the area near the wing of United Flight 2091, an Airbus 320.

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United says the plane headed toward the runway, only to be stopped before takeoff due to an engine problem. Airport operations were temporarily halted immediately, leaving incoming planes circling overhead.

Carmen Hernandez was trying to get home from Nashville.

“We were in the air and they said, 'I'm sorry for the delay. You're going to be a little late, because in Chicago there's an emergency,'” Hernandez said.

The emergency explanation without further details, she said, was all the more alarming.

“We were scared. The lady next to me was asking me, 'Do you know what's happening?' and I said 'No, they don't say anything, but the pilot looks a little nervous.' But he doesn't tell us anything,” Hernández said.

United says the smoking plane was towed to the gate and the passengers disembarked. Before long, operations resumed, allowing vacationers back home to return from a busy long weekend.

Even with an arrivals board filled with landings mostly on time and ahead of schedule, not every trip went so smoothly.

“It was crazy. It was crazy to leave, and it was crazy to come back, let's just say that,” said Shavine Rodney, who was returning to Chicago on Monday.

The TSA predicted it. The agency says it screened nearly 3 million passengers nationwide on Friday, marking a new all-time high.

Tornadoes and thunderstorms across large swaths of the country made crowded air travel more complicated and the trip back to Chicago over the holiday weekend a little more stressful than some passengers had prepared for.

“The storm redirected everyone to all the major cities,” said Olivia Lackey, who also returned to Chicago on Monday.

“In the end it was worth it, but if you're anxious I wouldn't recommend traveling at this time,” added Shavine Rodney.