Pilot Joe Misaalefua said 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 on Wednesday as the nine-seat 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 was to fly to Tau to inspect the plane, which remains grounded at the airport.
