Spirit Airlines plane tire catches fire, passengers must 'stay seated'

Twitter / @trianglegrrl

Crazy scene on Spirit Airlines flight: Plane catches fire, passengers see and smell smoke and start heading for exits...until calm, collected flight attendants tell them : "Please remain seated."

The airliner landed Sunday morning at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and a fire broke out around the landing gear. As you can imagine, once some passengers noticed...panic set in, they jumped out to evacuate, but the crew immediately turned them away.

Twitter / @imgoinscottie

Several flight attendants were on the PA system telling passengers to sit down and leave the aisles clear. They said there was no need for evacuation at this time.

It's easy for them to say, and they would certainly know better, but you fully understand why the passengers wanted to flee.

As they say at those safety demos, while most of us are furiously texting last-seconds instead of paying attention, always follow the instructions of the crew.

In this case, the Spirit flight attendants were able to keep their composure and everyone got off the plane safely once it was towed to a gate.

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Spirit says the fire started when the plane's brakes overheated.