Burning UPS cargo jet lands safely in Philadelphia
A UPS cargo DC-8 jet landed intact at Philadelphia International Airport early Wednesday morning after a fire broke out on board.
Eyewitnesses saw flames coming from the cargo area of UPS Flight 1307, which was on a regularly scheduled run from Atlanta to Philadelphia, when it touched down at 12:22 a.m. The plane's three crew members were taken to the University of Pennsylvania hospital, where they were treated for smoke inhalation.
A UPS spokesman said the crew personnel were released at 4 a.m. Before the jet landed, the crew had reported 'a lower cargo and main deck smoke situation,' the spokesman explained.
Firefighters took more than four hours to extinguish the blaze, which shut down the airport until 6 a.m.
UPS has a fleet of 269 jet aircraft and 305 chartered aircraft, the world's ninth-largest airline. The company has never had a crash, the spokesman said.