People near Los Angeles International Airport were shocked to see a plane with flames shooting out of one of its engines shortly after takeoff.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Philippines Airlines Flight 113 had departed from LAX on Thursday afternoon for a journey to the Philippines when the captain reported a mechanical issue and called for an emergency landing.
There were 347 passengers and 18 crew members onboard the Boeing 777 when video showed flames and black smoke spewing out of one of the plane’s engines. The aircraft managed to land safely at LAX and was met by emergency personnel.
A Philippine Airlines flight made an emergency landing at LAX shortly after takeoff when reported engine failure and flames were visible.
Passengers disembarked once the flight landed back at the airport. https://t.co/J5BDSvH87J pic.twitter.com/wBRK8SSEhP
— ABC News (@ABC) November 21, 2019
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the flight landed without incident and no injuries were reported among passengers or crew members.
One of the passengers on the plane, Adam Taylor, said on Facebook the “engine backfired and shot flames” as he and his child looked out the window at the damaged right engine. The airline confirmed the incident.
“I could see flashes of light. I though it was some kind of… just from the sunlight, and then I just start hearing ‘boom , boom, boom.’ and I look out of the window and there’s balls of fires just shooting out of the engine,” another passenger on the flight, Walter Baumann, said in a statement.
Earlier in November, emergency crews at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport helped avert disaster after a SkyUp Airlines plane caught fire while taxiing on the tarmac.
