Passengers on a United Airlines flight to Fort Myers from Houston, Texas found themselves on a scary situation when flames shot from one of the aircraft’s engines shortly after takeoff, causing the plane to quickly turn around.
The incident happened on Monday about 10 minutes after the flight took off around 7:30 p.m.
Witnesses on board described the moments when a bright light shined from the side of the plane.
“The plane shuttered and shook, and then we heard a popping noise,” said one man. “Yeah, so we could actually feel it,” said the woman who accompanied that man.
Crew members quickly shut down the engines and diverted the flight back to Houston for an emergency landing.
“It was pretty calm after they got it closed down, and it was reasonably smooth coming back to Houston,” said another man.
Passengers were grateful no one was hurt during the flight.
“They turned around and started down and people cheered when they landed,” said one couple.
United Airlines arranged for another plane to take those on board to Fort Myers later that evening.
The cause of the engine fire remains under investigation.
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