Spirit Airlines Plane's Tire Catches Fire, Passengers Told to 'Stay Seated'

Crazy scene on a Spirit Airlines flight -- the jet catches fire, passengers see and smell smoke and start heading for the exits ... until calm and collected flight attendants tell 'em, "Please remain seated."

The airliner landed Sunday morning at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and a fire started around the landing gear. As you can imagine, once some passengers noticed ... panic set in, and they jumped up to evacuate -- but the crew immediately turned them back.

Multiple flight attendants were on the PA system telling the passengers to get back in their seats, and leave the aisles clear. They said there was no need for evacuation at this time.

Easy for them to say, and they would certainly know better -- but you totally get why the passengers wanted to bolt.

As they say during those safety demonstrations -- while most of us are furiously sending last-second texts instead of paying attention -- always follow crew instructions.

In this case, the Spirit flight attendants were able to maintain calm, and everyone got off the plane safely once it was towed to a gate.