07 March 2024 , 16:32
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A United Airlines plane was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing shortly after taking off after one of its engines caught fire, with one passenger saying it "sounded like a bomb went off".
Passengers on board a flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Texas were left fearing for their lives when bright orange flames shot out from one of the engines. United Flight 1118 departed George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 6:40pm but it turned around just 12 minutes later.
In footage of the terrifying moment, crew on board the Boeing 737 can be heard telling the 167 passengers: "Hey ladies and gentlemen we realise something happened outside." FlightAware shows the plane landed back at Bush Airport at 7:13pm, just 33 minutes after take off.
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Passengers filmed huge flames coming from the engine (ABC 13)David Gruninger was on the connecting flight home to Florida with 15 of his friends after attending a wedding in Mexico. He told KTRK-TV: "I remember there was just this bright, flashing light that came through the window, and it sounded like a bomb went off, and then it was just a strobe of fire out the window."
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David recalled the scary incident quickly "turned into chaos" as people began "screaming and crying". He added: "It was a very turbulent ride back, and it was a pretty harsh landing, this is something I'll remember every time I get on a flight now."
Elliot Trexler, another passenger on board the flight, said: "The plane was nosediving, and the pilot was bringing the plane back up, the plane was also rocking back and forth a lot."
The United Airlines flight was forced to turn around after one of its engines caught fire (Getty Images)He claimed people on board thought they weren't going to survive as he revealed he even started saying his own goodbyes. "I think it's fair to say we all thought we were going to die. I emailed [my wife] an email that said, 'I love you, and you should feel free to move on,'" he said.
"It was our left engine, our number one engine, that was surging when we were climbing through about 10,000 (feet), and flight attendants saw momentary flames back there," a pilot could be heard saying as they explained the incident via radio transmissions. After landing back at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, United Airlines flew its passengers to Fort Myers a few hours later on a different plane.
The plane was forced to turn around shortly after taking off (ABC 13)Emails from United provided by a passenger show they offered travellers a $200 (£156) flight credit and a $15 (£11) meal voucher. "United flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue," the airline said in a statement.
"The flight landed safely, and the passengers deplaned normally. We arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination, which departed for Fort Myers later that evening," the statement continued.
The plane which experienced problems with its engine is scheduled to depart Bush Airport for Orlando at 7:20am Thursday. The cause of the United Airlines engine blaze has not yet been revealed and is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.