A United Airlines’ Boeing plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Texas Monday just minutes into its flight after flames exploded from one of its jet engines.
Shocking video shows the bright orange sparks shooting several feet out from beneath the left wing of the airplane, just inches away from the passenger windows.
The intense flames were so hot that they appeared almost white against the night sky.
The United Airline flight had only been in the air for 15 minutes when the fire broke out. Dorian D Cerda via Storyful“Hey ladies and gentlemen, we realized something happened outside,” a crewmember trepidatiously said over the intercom before the short video cut out.
United Airlines Flight 1118 immediately returned just before 7 p.m. to George H. Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport, where it had taken off just minutes before.
The plane was only “approximately 15 minutes” into the two-hour trip to Fort Myers, Florida when the incident occurred, passenger Dorian D. Cerda, who filmed the jarring video, told Storyful.
A passenger took the disturbing video during the quick flight. Dorian D Cerda via Storyful
The plane returned to the Houston airport it had only taken off from minutes earlier. Dorian D Cerda via StoryfulFortunately, no one was injured in the terrifying ordeal.
United Airlines told Storyful in a statement “flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue.
“The flight landed safely and the passengers deplaned normally,” United Airlines said, adding that they “arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination.”
The plane was a Boeing 737-900, an aircraft with a similar design to the newer Max fleet that was grounded in January after a mid-cabin exit door plug was ripped off an Alaska Airlines plane flying over Oregon.
The cause of the United Airlines engine blaze has not yet been revealed and is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
