PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Feeling something was wrong, the pilot of a small plane in American Samoa twice aborted takeoff before discovering the aircraft’s landing gear was on fire.

Pilot Joe Misaalefua says his six passengers fled the plane before he used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames at Fitiuta Airport on the island of Tau.
The fire occurred Wednesday as the nine-seater plane owned by the government of the U.S. territory was about to take off on a half-hour flight to Pago Pago on the main island of Tutuila.
An aircraft engineer is to fly to Tau to inspect the plane, which remains grounded at the airport.