Thanks so much for posting this. It is good to know that the flight crew and the fire department handled everything so well. Most of all, I am just so impressed that you made yourself get right onto another plane!

Smoke inhalation is deadly, it kills 3 out of every 4 persons in a fire. For those who are truly interested in guarding against this type of situation (admittedly rare), you can go online through a search engine and look up Evac-U8 (patented) smoke hood-that will provide you with up to 15 min. of breatheable air in order to allow you time to evacuate safely in a fire-related emergency (obviously not just for a/c). You should particularly consider these if, for example, you work in a high-rise bldg., or stay frequently in high-rise hotels. By providing the extra 15 min. of time to go down the fire escape without succumbing to smoke inhalation-a smoke hood could well be invaluable in saving your life.

I have one for that reason-it comes in a very compact 5 in. or so cylindrical container that I keep in the office-and then take with me on trips-onboard a/c and at the hotel.

What? Have I been asleep here in San Diego? Was this on the news? I am so glad you are all safe! Just last week while I was in Malibu caring for my father, two small planes crashed into eachother one mile from our beach. It is just crazy. Thank you for sharig your story here on the European side.

Thanks for all of your kind replies. Shellio, there were several children and babies with their parents and I know of at least one unaccompanied teenage girl who spoke only French. So not only must she have been afraid, but confused as well. Calamari, there were many articles on this in the Houston news, but I'm not sure it went nationwide. The articles I read from Houston gave a very whitewashed version of events. My father, who lives in Houston, heard this on the news and thought only the captain smelled smoke and the rest of us were oblivious to what was happening. This was not even close to being correct. However, I did find an interview with a passenger in a Scottish newspaper that gave a much more accurate account of events. I have that bookmarked at my office and can provide the link Monday, or perhaps today if I can find it.

I found the article in the Scottish newspaper. The only mistake in this article is that it actually happened on a Wednesday, not Thursday, but otherwise this is a lot more accurate than what was reported in the Texas news.

I'm not sure I agree with the interviewee that there was NO sense of panic, but I do think the panic was minimal given the circumstances. Once again, I credit the captian for keeping us calm.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/dis...entPK=10770489

Food for thought!

15 years ago I was involved in a serious road accident, from which I was fortunate to walk away unscathed (as did the other party). The police told us that statistically you are very unlikely to be ever involved in a serious road accident and the fact you walked away from it is even better. As plane travel is even safer than car travel, I would conclude, you've just had, statistically, your 1 serious flight incident, you walked away from it. Count your lucky stars and carry on flying!

Thanks for the very useful info you supplied.

Wow, I frequently fly in exit row seats and dutifully read the pamphlet, as required by the attendant. But this makes it all very real! Thanks for posting this.

Hmmm. We were flying from Las Vegas to Ft. Myers on that day, changing in Dallas. Now I understand why I saw flights to and from Houston cancelled or delayed!!!
What an experience for you!

Grasshopper, that's why I only fly in the emergency exit row when my husband is with me. I quite frankly don't want to be responsible for opening that door, but he has had years of emergency training in various aspects and I know he'd have no problem with it.

Topping to help answer the question in the thread about smoke hoods.

Here is an article with an apparent cause of the engine fire. It's looking like GE is to blame, but I am still awaiting the final report from the NTSB. I am posting this so everyone will know that BA is most likely not to blame, and as I stated before, they handled this situation brilliantly.

http://www.courierjournal.com/localn...1213-5488.html

P_M Thanks so much for the update except that it was really really scary!

That's an awful ordeal!

Just FYI. Those Evac-U8 smoke hoods will trigger considerable interest on the part of TSA screeners, and having one with you heading onto a long-haul flight will usually mean getting subjected to the most stringest search level they do.