This is the terrifying moment passengers captured an American Airlines Boeing 737’s engine that burst into flames midair before the pilot safely executed an emergency landing at Ohio airport 40 minutes after it took off.
Passengers Marni Kallestad and Ryan Brink had the presence of mind to record the incident, as flames shot from the engine, despite the horrifying conditions.
The American Airlines flight 1958 to Phoenix, Arizona took off from John Glenn Columbus International Airport at 7:43am, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flights nationally, but landed back at the airport at 8:22am.
Passenger John Fisher told WCMH of Columbus that passengers were quickly made aware of the bird strike because of the sounds produced by the collision.
‘Apparently we struck a flock of geese and the engine started making real loud “clonk, clonk, clonk” noises’,’ he said. ‘They eventually turned the engine off and turned around and went back to the airport.’
A separate incident last Thursday saw an American Airlines Airbus A321 suffer a fire on its right wing as it prepared to take off from Charlotte-Douglas Airport in North Carolina. The plane returned to the gate, and no injuries were reported
American Airlines flight 1958 returned to a Columbus, Ohio airport less than 20 minutes after it took off after a bird struck its engine, causing it to burn
Emergency crews rushed to the runway after the plane re-landed at the airport safely
A passenger told NBC News that she could hear ‘people on the plane crying’ after the engine went up in flames.
She said: ‘My heart just broke honestly for so many people on this plane, I could hear them crying and I just wanted us all to be okay.’
Witnesses on the scene said it was struck by a flock of geese as it took off, causing flames to shoot from the engine and create ‘wonky, pulsing noises.’
John Glenn International Airport posted on Twitter: ‘Emergency crews responded to an aircraft incident at CMH this morning involving a reported engine fire.
‘The aircraft landed safely and the airport is open and operational
‘The aircraft experienced mechanical issues, not an engine fire.’
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the incident.
American Airlines said in a statement: ‘The flight landed normally and taxied safely to the gate under its own power.
‘The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance and our team is working to get customers back on their way to Phoenix.’
One person in Columbus, Ohio even said it sounded ‘as if the engines were about to give up.’
Fortunately, the plane made it back to the ground safely – and no injuries were reported.
The plane has been identified as a Boeing 737-800, but is not a 737 Max, which has killed over 340 people around the world following two horrific and well-publicized crashes caused by an onboard computer system.
The flight to Phoenix, Arizona was struck by a bird as it took off from Columbus, Ohio
The flight was set to land at Phoenix, Arizona but had to make the quick U-turn shortly after it took off.
Videos and photos posted online show flames coming out of its engine, and the plane making a low rumbling noise as it passed through Ohio.
An unnamed passenger onboard the doomed flight has since told WBNS that the pilot said geese got into the engine, causing the fire.
Witnesses shared online that they heard ‘wonky, pulsing noises’ from the aircraft and the engine sounded like it was ‘about to give up’
All of the passengers were taken to another plane, which was scheduled to take back off to Phoenix at around 10am.
The airport says it is ‘open and operational,’ as emergency crews remain on the scene.
The incident came three days after another engine fire aboard an Airbus A321 plane as it was about to take off from Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina.
Disturbing video shows flames shooting out of the right-hand side wing, which were visible from the slats of the plane.
Worried passengers could be heard crying out, while a flight attendant came over the intercom to tell them to stay calm, and that they’d sort out the issue as quickly as possible.
The plane, which was due to fly to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport returned to its gate without taking off, and the flames were extinguished.
All passengers were taken off, and no-one was injured, Simple Flying reported. The incident is being treated as a mechanical failure, and no further details of what caused it have been shared.
