Smoke began filling the cabin of a United Express flight as it taxied for takeoff at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Saturday morning, forcing an emergency evacuation before the plane ever left the ground. The aircraft, operating as Flight 6153, had been scheduled to depart Terminal E at 7:20 a.m. on its way to Atlanta when the smoke appeared, cutting the trip short before it started.
According to Click2Houston, authorities reported that smoke aboard the United Airlines flight prompted the emergency evacuation of the aircraft. A passenger told KPRC 2 that he was on Flight 6153 when the cabin began filling with smoke while the plane was taxiing for takeoff, giving a firsthand account of the scramble to get everyone off the jet.
Fire Crews Rush to the Scene
The Houston Fire Department sent multiple units to 3950 North Terminal Road in response to the smoke report, according to the same Click2Houston account. Officials said the smoke was extinguished and the aircraft was declared “fire safe,” signaling that the immediate danger had passed by the time emergency crews finished their work on the tarmac.
Houston Airport System flight-tracking information listed the Houston-to-Atlanta flight as diverted at IAH, per Click2Houston's reporting. United Airlines said the flight is operated by Mesa Airlines as United Express, a detail the airline confirmed as questions mounted about what happened aboard the aircraft.
Key Details Still Unconfirmed
The cause of the fire and whether anyone was injured had not been confirmed at the time of publication, the station's report notes. Those unanswered questions leave the incident's full scope unclear for now, even as the plane itself was cleared and the scene around it stood down.
This is not the first time a Houston-bound or Houston-departing United flight has dealt with fire or smoke concerns before getting airborne. In February 2025, a United Airlines flight departing Houston was evacuated after a fire was spotted on the plane before takeoff, as Chron.com reported at the time. That flight, United 1382, an Airbus A319 bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York, aborted takeoff at George Bush Intercontinental Airport because of an engine issue discovered that morning.
In that earlier case, Houston Fire Department Airport Rescue officials assisted in deboarding the aircraft, and no injuries were reported at the time, Chron.com noted. That flight had carried 104 passengers and five crew members, and United arranged another aircraft to fly them to New York later that day.
Smoke Incidents Are Not Rare Nationally
Smoke or fumes in airplane cabins and cockpits are far from an isolated phenomenon in commercial aviation. The Federal Aviation Administration has said approximately 900 smoke-or-fumes events occur annually in transport-category airplanes, with many prompting flight crews to declare an emergency, divert, turn back or request priority handling, according to an FAA safety bulletin.
The FAA's own incident log has recorded other recent cases, including American Airlines Flight 5089, which returned to St. Louis Lambert International Airport after its crew reported pressurization issues and smoke in the cabin, with passengers evacuated on the runway, per the agency's accident and incident statements. Separately, an NTSB aviation report on file with the agency identified a serious injury to a flight attendant during an evacuation, listing air quality, dust or smoke as a contributing factor to that outcome.
For now, the scene at Bush Intercontinental has cleared, with the smoke extinguished and the aircraft declared fire safe. What triggered the smoke aboard Flight 6153, and whether any passengers or crew were hurt during the evacuation, remain open questions that had not been answered as of publication.
