Horrifying moment a United Airlines plane is forced to make an emergency landing as FIRE shoots from wing
PASSENGERS have described the horror on board a United Airlines flight when flames began shooting from underneath the wing and one of the engines failed.
Flight 1871 had just taken off from Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday night, bound for Los Angeles, when a fire started below the right wing.
Passengers began to scream hysterically, the noise so deafening it drowned out the crew announcements.
“People are screaming,” passenger Nicole Adamo tweeted, describing the scene on the plane.
“They’re making announcements but I can’t hear anything [because] people are screaming.
“Most terrifying experience of my life.”
Another passenger described an explosion that sounded like “a really big boom”.
“Right next to me there was [sic] flames sparking from the wing,” passenger Michy Silverstein told CBS.
“The gentleman that was sitting next to me said that he felt heat from the side of the plane.”
The flight was meant to depart at 7pm but had been delayed by two hours due to maintenance issues, finally taking off just after 9pm.
Another passenger, Gabrielle Guzy, shared an alarming video of the incident, which shows a bright orange flash that appears to be a flame sparking.
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The United flight was forced to turn back to Newark Liberty to make an emergency landing. Fire engines greeted the plane on the tarmac, northjersey.com reported.
United Airlines said the engine malfunction was caused by a “mechanical issue”.
“United 1871 from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles returned to Newark due to a mechanical issue,” a spokesperson said.
Passengers on flight 1871 eventually departed on a new aircraft at 2am EST and arrived in Los Angeles about seven hours behind schedule, CBS reported.
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