Engine of plane headed to RSW catches fire midflight forcing emergency landing

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Nicholas Karsen
Published: Updated:
plane
Engine fire on from a United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas to Florida Southwestern International Airport. Credit: WINK

Passengers from Houston to Fort Myers were met with a tremendous scare as an emergency landing had to be made due to their plane’s engine catching fire.

On Monday, 10 minutes into the United Airlines flight, which had left Texas at around 7:22 p.m., one of the plane’s engines burst into flames.

The flight was traveling to Florida Southwestern International Airport when passengers heard loud popping sounds 12,000 feet off the ground, prompting an emergency landing back to Texas.

The plane then turned around to return to Houston, where the passengers were transferred to another flight for RSW.

Upon arrival at RSW, at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, a passenger from the flight gave a detailed account of their experience on board the flight.

“The door shuttered, and there was a bright light that came out on the left side of the plane,” said the airplane passenger. “The plane rattled, hard rattled, and we knew something was wrong; then the pilots shut the engine down.”

The passenger continued to mention that the return to the airport was smooth and seamless; however, all the passengers expressed anxiety due to their ordeal.

The cause of the engine fire remains under investigation.

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