Delta Air Lines flight 420 was about to take off for Ghana when the incident happened at about 7 p.m.
The fire was put out and passengers were taken off with mobile stair ramps.
No one was injured.
A statement from Delta says the flight aborted a takeoff following an airspeed warning indication and while it was taxiing back to the gate the brakes overheated.
The Port Authority says there were no flight disruptions.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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