


A United Airlines flight that departed from Houston, Texas, en route to Fort Meyers, Florida, on Monday was forced to turn back just minutes into the trek after one of the engines caught fire.
The ordeal was captured on video as passengers could only look on helplessly during the mid-air mishap.
According to a video shared with Storyful News & Weather and verified by the New York Post, the left engine of the plane was shooting flames just 15 minutes into the two-hour journey.
It is not clear what caused the incident, but the footage is harrowing.
According to the video, which was taken by a passenger named Dorian Cerda, the flight crew remained calm as the plane turned around and headed back to Texas for an emergency landing.
“Hey, ladies and gentlemen,” a pilot told passengers. “We realized something happened outside.”
Cerda’s video showed an orange glow out a window that sent orange flames backward.
The passenger told Storyful that the plane had taken off about 15 minutes before the video was filmed.
“United Airlines said in a statement ‘Flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue,’” the video-sharing outlet reported.
The outlet added, “‘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 Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the causes of the engine issue.
According to the Post, the plane was a Boeing 737-900 model, which is similar to the company’s recently grounded Max model.
The Max returned to service recently following a number of issues in the U.S. and two deadly international plane crashes in recent years.
Monday’s ill-fated flight returned safely to George H. Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport.
ABC News reported United 1118 was carrying a total of 167 people, and many of them were crying before their flight landed safely in Texas.
According to the Post, passengers were put on a different plane and arrived later safely in Florida.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.