Images shared with ABC13 show that the plane’s evacuation slides were activated.
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Saturday, October 24, 2026 11:07PM
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A plane bound for Atlanta was evacuated shortly after leaving the gate at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport due to reported smoke in the cabin, according to Mesa Airlines.
The airline told ABC13 on Saturday morning that it performed a precautionary evacuation of flight UA6153 after a sensor alerted the crew to smoke in the cabin. Mesa said passengers and crew exited safely and reported no injuries.
Mesa did not immediately say what set off the smoke detector.
Images obtained by ABC13 show the Mesa Airlines plane after evacuation.
KTRK
Video obtained by ABC13 showed emergency crews responding to the Embraer E175 jet, which had its emergency slides deployed.
Mesa Airlines said passengers were transferred to another aircraft to complete the flight.
According to FlightAware, the passengers landed in Atlanta about three hours behind schedule.
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