Twelve hospitalized with minor injuries after emergency evacuation of burning American Airlines plane at Denver airport.

The engine of an American Airlines plane caught fire after it landing in the US city of Denver on Thursday.

The Boeing 737-800 was at a gate when smoke started to pour out of the engine, forcing passengers and crew to evacuate using the plane’s slides.

Twelve people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries, Denver International Airport said in a post on X,  adding that operations at the airport were normal. 

The flight with 172 passengers and six crew members on board was originally supposed to land in Dallas.

But it was diverted from its planned destination after the crew reported engine vibrations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

An engine on the plane caught fire while taxiing to the gate, the FAA added.

American Airlines said the plane had landed safely and taxied to the gate when it experienced an “engine-related issue.”

There was no immediate clarification on exactly when the plane caught fire.

‘Ton of smoke’

Witness Aaron Clark had just arrived at the airport on another flight when he saw “a flash of sudden fire, followed by a ton of smoke,” he told Reuters news agency.

“The fire was very brief and looked like it was extinguished pretty quickly by ground crews. The smoke continued for a while and that’s when we saw people starting to exit from the rear slides.”

The plane is 13-years old, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

It was equipped with two CFM56 engines manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture between GE and Safran, Reuters reports.

Boeing and GE declined to comment.

The engine fire is the latest in a series of high-profile aviation incidents that have raised questions about US aviation safety.

In January, the mid-air collision of an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.