A plane was forced to return to the airport it had set off from after one of its engines caught fire mid-flight.
The American Airlines flight had been headed to Phoenix from John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus but had to cut its flight short and return home following the loss of one of its engines. You can see footage of the incident here:
The fire, possibly caused by a bird strike, broke out shortly after take-off, prompting the crew to return to the airport to land, where firefighters were on hand to put out the flames.
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In a statement on Twitter John Glenn International Airport said: “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.”
Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident, but one eye-witness said those onboard were ‘crying’.
Passenger Marnie Kallestad told ABC: "Many people started crying and going into tears, because we just didn't know if we were going to make it or not.
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"Frankly, it was terrifying, and I comforted as many people as I could next to me, and I don't know what to say. I'm still in shock. I didn't start crying until after I got off the plane.”
Fellow passenger John Fisher told NBC that he believed the fire had been caused after the plane flew into a flock of geese.
“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.”
In a statement American Airlines said: “The flight landed normally and taxied safely to the gate under its own power.
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"The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance and our team is working to get customers back on their way to Phoenix.”
Meanwhile, residents in Columbus took to social media to say they had heard the plane from down on the ground.
“I can't be the only person in Columbus who heard that plane with engines that sounded like they were about to give up,” one person wrote.
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While another said: “It scared the hell out of me, and I ran to the window but couldn't see it. I'm in Grandview. Sounded like it was directly overhead.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation.
Claire Reid