12 Slightly Injured After Jetliner Returns to LAX : Air travel: A DC-10 makes an emergency landing after a warning light falsely indicated a fire in the rear engine.

Twelve passengers suffered minor injuries sliding down evacuation chutes when an American Airlines jumbo jet returned for an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday morning after a cockpit warning light falsely indicated an engine fire.

The DC-10 jetliner, which had taken off a few minutes earlier for Boston with 211 passengers and a crew of 13, touched down safely. Passengers suffered minor bruises and other slight injuries when a decision was made to evacuate the plane on a taxiway beside the runway, fire officials said.

An examination of the aircraft showed no signs of fire, said Tim Smith, spokesman for the airline in Dallas.

“You don’t ever want to be anything but conservative in a situation like this, so the pilot would always assume it’s a real warning,” Smith said.

Flight 94 had taken off shortly after 8 a.m. and was about 20 minutes into the flight, climbing through 25,000 feet, when the light flashed an indication of a fire in the No. 2 engine, which is located in the tail of the three-engine aircraft, Smith said.

Smith said the light continued to flash after the pilot shut down the engine and doused it with fire-suppressing carbon dioxide. The crew dumped some of the fuel to make the airplane light enough for a safe landing and headed back to the Los Angeles airport.

When dumped at such a high altitude, fuel evaporates before reaching the ground, Smith said.

The plane landed shortly after 9 a.m. on Runway 25 Right on the south side of the airport. The pilot parked the DC-10 on an adjacent taxiway and--because it was not yet determined that there was no fire--the passengers were ordered to leave the plane by sliding down inflatable evacuation chutes.

Composer-conductor Henry Mancini was among the passengers.

“Everyone around me seemed to be in control and no one had any apprehensions,” he said later. “If they did, they didn’t show it.”

Ten passengers were treated at the scene for minor cuts and bruises, fire officials said. Two more were examined at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood after complaining of back pains. Both were released.

Smith said most passengers elected to continue to Boston on a later American Airlines flight.