Frightened US plane passengers screamed for the doors to be kicked open as the cabin began filling with smoke after an emergency landing.

The American Airlines plane caught fire after touching down at Denver International Airport.

Emergency slides were deployed so passengers could escape quickly.

Others evacuated onto one of the plane’s wings as thick black smoke choked the air.

Twelve people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, according to Denver International Airport.

Flight 1006, which was headed from the Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas Fort Worth, was diverted to Denver on Thursday afternoon (local time).

Crew reported engine vibrations, the Federal Aviation Administration said,  and the plane landed safely.

While taxiing to the gate, an engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught fire, the FAA said.

The airline said the flight experienced an engine-related issue after taxiing to the gate.

The 172 passengers and six crew members were taken to the terminal, airline officials said.

“I was just holding my breath and barely breathing and trying to get out of there as fast as I can,” one older male passenger told the BBC.

“It was just a bunch of panic in people around me.

“A lot of people were screaming, things like ‘Kick the door open’.”

“We were standing in the aisle of the airline way too long in my opinion,” said a female passenger.

“‘Let’s get out, let’s get out’, people were screaming — and nobody was moving.”

An Airline offical thanked crew members and first responders “for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority”.

Firefighters put out the blaze by the evening, an airport spokesperson told media outlets.

The FAA will investigate.

Thick black smoke billows from the plane. Photo: X

The country has seen a recent spate of aviation disasters and close calls stoking fears about air travel, though flying remains a very safe mode of transport.

Recent on-the-ground incidents have included a plane that crashed and flipped over upon landing in Toronto and a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a parked Delta plane while it was taxiing at the Seattle airport.

-with AAP