On Sunday morning, an American Airlines airplane that may have flown into a flock of birds made an emergency landing in Ohio.
After the strike, which purportedly caused one of the engines to erupt into flames, the Boeing 737 plane was forced to turn back to John Glenn Columbus International Airport at around 8 a.m., local time, on its way to Phoenix, Arizona.
The Boeing 737-800 took off from John Glenn Columbus International Airport at 7:43 a.m. on Sunday, but it had to make an emergency landing at 8:22 a.m. John Glenn Columbus International Airport revised its earlier report, which said that an engine had caught fire, to read “the aircraft experienced mechanical issues, not an engine fire.”
Two passengers captured the scene from the plane as it caught fire.
After the jet collided with the geese, a witness heard strange noises.
American Airlines said the flight touched down usually and arrived safely at the gate. The plane had to be de-commissioned for repairs, but they stated they were doing everything possible to get passengers to Phoenix “as soon as possible.”
A passenger, Matthew Danek, said this was the first time in his life that he had experienced a fire on a plane. He said extreme rumbling vibrations were felt. “It was quite loud.”
According to Danek, the fire lasted about three minutes, during which the other passengers were terrified but kept quiet.
As the flight continued, the atmosphere shifted abruptly. Everyone seemed to get silent. A hush fell over them. He said there was that moment when they all looked at each other like, “You hearing this?”
He said the looks on people’s faces reflected that they felt “we’re in it together now.’
According to aviation safety official Shawn Pruchnicki, airline crews train for this repeatedly. So, regardless of why the engine failed, it’s something that “as a former airline pilot, we are very, very well trained to handle,” he said.
