Video shows ‘flames’ shooting from United Airlines engine before emergency landing

A United Airlines flight from San Diego diverted to a New Mexico airport early Monday after a passenger shot video of flames or sparks shooting from a jet engine, CNN reported.

Chicago-bound Flight 366 landed safely in Albuquerque, the airline confirmed in a statement to McClatchy News. No injuries were reported.

The video posted to Twitter by passenger Thomas Chorny shows a rapid-fire series of bright flashes from the engine beneath a wing.

“Strange to sit there & think ‘What if this is it?’”Chorny wrote. “To just sit there & accept the potential fate that seems to be a possibility & not tell the sleeping people all around you. No need to panic the others. I’m a pretty calm person but took me a while to stop the shakes & trembles.”

United Airlines said mechanics had reviewed the video and identified the flashes as sparks, though Chorny called them flames, USA Today reported.

“The plane started to shake a bit like it was hitting turbulence, but the wings were perfectly still,” Chorny said, CNN reported. “I was halfway falling asleep but opened my eyes to look out the window and saw flames shooting from the right engine.”

Chorny told CNN the pilots appeared to idle the engine, ending the flashes, then announced about 10 minutes later they would be landing in Albuquerque.

“United flight 366 from San Diego to Chicago diverted to Albuquerque following a mechanical issue with one of the engines,” the airline said in its statement to McClatchy News.

“The flight landed safely, and customers deplaned normally at the gate,” the statement reads. “Our maintenance team in Albuquerque will inspect the aircraft and we’ve arranged for a different plane to get our customers to their destination which has departed.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Video shows ‘flames’ shooting from United Airlines engine before emergency landing."