At Least 51 Injured in Aborted Takeoff : Aviation: Fire engulfs the TWA jetliner after it veers off a runway in New York. All 292 people aboard the plane are evacuated safely.

NEW YORK —  A jetliner aborted takeoff, veered off a runway and caught fire Thursday at John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said. All 292 people aboard were evacuated safely, but at least 51 suffered minor injuries.

Trans World Airlines Flight 843, a three-engine Lockheed 1011 headed from New York to San Francisco, was engulfed in flames from the wings to the tail. The plane’s fuselage was cracked near the tail and its belly was on the ground. The fire was extinguished after about 50 minutes.

A fire may have started in an engine, though it wasn’t immediately known why the pilot aborted the takeoff, a federal official said.

“People were gasping,” said passenger Marianne Levine of San Francisco. She said she thought: “I hope we’re not going to die. Oh, my God, I don’t think he’ll be able to come to a stop.”

Passengers slid down inflated emergency chutes to flee the plane.

“Everything was calm, as calm as it can be when you know you’ve got to get out of there because you can see flames and smell smoke,” said Tim Scheld, a reporter for WCBS-AM in New York who was aboard the plane.

The jet carried 280 passengers and 12 crew members, said Don Fleming, a TWA spokesman.

Charles DeGaetano, an Emergency Medical Service spokesman, said 51 passengers suffered minor injuries such as bruises, abrasions and neck and back pain. A dozen rescue workers also were treated for minor injuries.

As the plane was attempting to take off, “there was a slight bang” and “we came back down on the ground in a violent fashion,” Scheld said.

“We were hurtling down the runway. Then at some point, the plane veered right softly into the soft sand-grass portion to the right of the Tarmac.

“We were all bracing each other, bracing ourselves against the seats in front of us, hoping that pieces of the plane would not come free, and they did not. The plane stayed intact on the inside,” Scheld said.

Passenger Deena Anderson said she heard an explosion. “It was a big ball of flame and noise, and I looked back to the tail of the plane and all I saw was fire,” said Anderson, 48, of Sacramento, Calif.

Julia Elhauge, 31, of Berkeley, Calif., said two exits with chutes were opened, but “then the stewardess opened the rear exit . . . and a ball of flame came into the cabin.”

Scheld said: “There was a little pushing and shoving but not that much.” Once everyone was out, Scheld said, “it was just a real surreal scene--200-plus passengers-crew standing out on the Tarmac looking at this plane that we were just sitting in go up in flames.”

The plane was departing runway 13-right. “The pilot for reasons we do not yet know elected not to take off, and he put on the brakes and in the process veered off the runway,” said Duncan Pardue, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. He said the plane never was airborne.

The plane burst into flames, ending up about 100 feet off the runway, Pardue said.

“It appears to be destroyed from the wings back,” leading officials to suspect that the fire may have started in an engine, Pardue said. Two of the engines are mounted on the wings; the third is atop the fuselage in the rear.

An FAA official who spoke on condition his name not be used said the agency was investigating a report that the pilot aborted the takeoff after he was told about smoke or fire in an engine.

The fire was reported at 5:42 p.m. EDT. The airport was closed for several hours.