A malfunction in an auxiliary power unit on the tail of an arriving Southwest Airlines passenger jet was blamed for a brief scare at Baltimore-Washington International Airport last night.
Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for the Maryland Aviation Administration, said the flight from Indianapolis was taxiing to the gate when the problem occurred about 6:15 p.m. Fire and rescue crews answering the call found no fire, he said.
Southwest spokeswoman Edna Ruano said the crew of the Boeing 737 was alerted that an air-traffic controller had spotted an external fire. The plane - Flight 602 - continued to the gate, where its 61 passengers debarked without incident. Those continuing to its final destination in Hartford, Conn., were transferred to a later flight.
