This engine fire on a Southwest Airlines flight looked more like an explosion

An engine fire on a Southwest Airlines flight bound from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles was captured in dramatic video.

The fire forced Flight 604 bound for Los Angeles to turn around just 20 minutes after takeoff for "an uneventful landing," Southwest Airlines said in a statement to a Utah TV station.

Flight 604 landed at Salt Lake City International Airport shortly afterward. Passengers were de-planed and put on the next available flight, which took off at 10:20 a.m.

Passenger Traci Scarce, who was flying with her daughters, told ABC News that they heard loud pops and the plane began shaking as the lights began to flicker.

"There were sparks and flames coming from outside," Scarce said. "It sounded like there was a stalling engine."

Al Oshiro, who witnessed the incident from the ground as he arrived at work, said, "All of a sudden I started seeing these orange flames just coming off the right side of the engine."

Speaking to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oshiro said he heard a sound "so loud that a lot of people came out of the building because people thought the building was getting hit."

The cause of the engine fire was undetermined as of early Tuesday afternoon.

The plane is a Boeing 737-700 and was carrying roughly 115 passengers and crew, as reported by the Review-Journal.

Stephen English: 817-390-7330, @sbehglish74

This story was originally published February 27, 2018 at 2:08 PM with the headline "This engine fire on a Southwest Airlines flight looked more like an explosion."