Terrifying moment Philippine Airlines plane spews flames and black smoke over LAX airport as engine failure forces emergency landing
- The Boeing 777 departed Los Angeles International Airport for Manila Thursday
- It was forced to turn back less than an hour later after a mechanical malfunction caused the right-side engine to catch fire
- Social media video showed the aircraft leaving a trail of black smoke behind it
- The ordeal caused a panic onboard but none of the 347 passengers were injured
A Philippine Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport when one of its engines began spouting flames and smoke shortly after takeoff.
The Boeing 777 bound for Manila departed on Thursday just after 11am and was forced to turn back less than an hour later after a mechanical malfunction caused the right-side engine to catch fire.
Frightening footage recorded from the ground and shared on social media showed the aircraft leaving a trail of black smoke behind it as it soared over LAX.
Twitter user @andrewblakeames tweeted a video with the caption: ‘Is a plane supposed to spew flames?’
A Philippine Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday morning when one of its engines began spouting flames and smoke shortly after takeoff.
The Boeing 777 bound for Manila departed just after 11am and was forced to turn back less than an hour later after a mechanical malfunction caused the right-side engine to catch fire. Frightening footage recorded from the ground and shared on social media showed the aircraft leaving a trail of black smoke behind it as it soared over LAX
Twitter user @andrewblakeames shared a video which showed flames coming from the plane’s engine shortly after it took off from LAX
Airline officials said there was no active fire when the plane landed without incident.
None of the 347 passengers on the plane were injured.
One passenger described the ordeal to CBS2.
‘As soon as it lifted off the ground, we heard four large bangs,’ they said. ‘The right side, interior side engine blew up and was on fire.’
The witness said the sight and sound caused some passengers to scream and cry.
An airline spokesperson said that all passengers were transferred onto another flight.
Airline officials said there was no active fire when the plane landed without incident. t all passengers were transferred onto another flight (file photo)