Another Day, Another Airline Almost Kills Us All

Oh joy, another nail-biting adventure in the not-so-friendly skies. Frontier Airlines Flight 1326 from sunny San Diego decided to spice things up this Saturday by "detecting smoke" and "declaring an emergency" just as it was about to touch down at the glamorous Harry Reid International Airport in Sin City. Because why land like a normal plane when you can give everyone a heart attack instead?

The Federal Aviation Authority, with their typical flair for drama, stated that the emergency landing happened "after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit." And guess what? There's video! Flames licking the underside of the plane, a lovely trail of smoke—it's like a Michael Bay movie, but without the happy ending.

Frontier, ever the master of understatement, said, "The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers and crew were evacuated via airstairs. No injuries were reported." Well, that's a relief. I mean, who cares if your underwear needs changing, right?

Airport officials, who clearly love a good crisis, told CNN that the plane “experienced a hard landing where basically tires blew.” Shocking, isn't it? Who knew aircraft tires could explode like party balloons?

But don't worry, folks. The ever-vigilant FAA assured us that "Fire & Rescue extinguished a fire on the right engine." Phew, crisis averted. Let's all go back to our crossword puzzles.

A grand total of 190 passengers and 7 crew members got to enjoy this rollercoaster ride. And as a result, the FAA issued a ground stop at the airport until 7 p.m. Saturday. Thanks for nothing, Frontier.

In true bureaucratic fashion, Frontier and the National Transportation Safety Board will now spend months "investigating" the cause of the fire. Because, you know, it's not like they have anything better to do.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7, if you're into that sort of thing.