Source: Luke Bodell | www.simpleflying.com

A United Airlines flight at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport aborted takeoff and evacuated its passengers due to smoke in the cabin. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200, had accelerated to around 90 knots before rejecting takeoff. The investigation into the cause of the smoke is ongoing.

On Friday morning, United Airlines flight UA 71 from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) was forced to reject takeoff at high speed after smoke was seen in the cabin.

The flight, operated by a Boeing 777-200, was cleared for takeoff at around 09:50 local time, over 30 minutes later than its scheduled departure, and accelerated to 90 knots before aborting takeoff. Reports claim that light smoke formed in the cabin, forcing pilots to perform the emergency stop.

Fire and emergency services were called and arrived on the runway less than 10 minutes later. Crew then decided to conduct an evacuation, with 253 passengers and 13 crew safely exiting the plane.

Passengers were then bussed back to the terminal and the affected aircraft returned to the apron. Two people on the flight were treated for smoke inhalation.

According to a report from NL Times, a spokesperson for the Kennemerland Security Region said, “it may have been caused by a small, electrical short circuit.” Given the threat posed by smoke in the cabin, which could indicate a range of critical problems, if the aircraft did take off then it would have turned back around and performed an emergency landing.

United Airlines told NL Times,

“Our maintenance team is currently inspecting the aircraft. We are making arrangements to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible.”

Just a few days ago, Simple Flying reported on a similar incident involving smoke in the cabin, this time affecting an American Airlines Boeing 777 that diverted to Bermuda.