Some PAX Didn't Even Know There Was A Problem

Five firefighters were slightly hurt at Boston's Logan Interntational Airport Monday night as they doused flames aboard a flight that had just arrived from Heathrow Airport in London.

None of the 219 passengers and four crew members aboard the British Airways 777 was hurt in the fire, which was apparently discovered just prior to landing.

Passengers told the Boston Herald that the aircraft banked sharply on short final and landed hard at around 2130 local time. But beyond that, few passengers had any clue anything was wrong.

"They politely asked us to just get your stuff and get off," said passenger Tracey Becker in an interview with the Herald. "It smelled like burnt rubber."

"There really wasn't anything. I was walking off the plane and I smelled smoke," said passenger Janeen Davis of Rhode Island.

"When the passengers were deplaning, the captain reported an indicator light in the cockpit showing a fire in the avionics compartment," said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Massport, the state agency which operates Logan. "Massport fire went in and put it out."

The fire was confined to two avionics compartments in the nose of the aircraft, just beneath the cockpit. The five firefighters who were injured reported burning in their eyes and throats after being sprayed with an unknown chemical. They were decontaminated at a local hospital.

FMI: www.britishairways.com, www.massport.com