Several passengers and crew suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital after all on board the Boeing Co 777 escaped down emergency inflatable slides.

Aboard the plane, the evacuation slides were quickly deployed and passengers were evacuated within minutes.

According to bbc.com, British Airways has released an official statement saying that the plane “experienced a technical issue as it was preparing for take-off”.

British Airways said: “We are looking after customers after an incident involving flight BA2276 due to travel from Las Vegas to London Gatwick Airport”.

In 2014, a British Airways planed heading to Lyon, France, was forced to turn back to Londonʼs Heathrow Airport after a witness saw flames “spitting” out of the engine on takeoff.

Manno noted that passengers also evacuated with belongings when a Delta Air Lines jet almost skidded off the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March and an Asiana Airlines jet caught fire after a hard landing in San Francisco in 2013.

The pilot later told passengers that the accident was the result of a “catastrophic failure of the engine”, reports the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, who was on board the plane.

Passengers were removed from the plane using emergency slides.

“After an incident like this, the authorities take over”, British Airways told passengers in a letter, explaining next steps.

The crew immediately aborted the takeoff and evacuated all passengers off the flight by 4:18 p.m. (2318 GMT), according to airport officials.

A photograph posted by the airport of the immediate aftermath of the fire showed the plane idled on the runway with its fuselage charred.

“Based on the engine fleet’s service history, we are not aware of any operational issues that would hazard the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines”, it said.

Boeing said it will work with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the cause of the fire.

He added: “A pilot could go through their whole career without dealing with an incident like this but if it happens all the training and time in the simulator pays off”.

“That aircraft was full of fuel”, said Fire Capt. Mike Atchley, among the first of 53 firefighters at the scene.

McCarren is the ninth busiest airport in the United States.