The plane encountered a "mechanical issue shortly after takeoff" but landed safely.
In a shocking incident, a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing after its engine caught fire while it was on its way to Cancun in Mexico from Texas, as per a report in NBC News. The flight returned to P Hobby Airport in Houston on August 15 "after experiencing a mechanical issue shortly after takeoff", according to a statement from the carrier. The airline stated that the plane encountered a "mechanical issue shortly after takeoff" but landed safely.
In the terrifying video going viral on the internet, Flight 307 can be seen flying over a cloudy sky and suddenly fire is seen spewing out of its engine.
In another clip, which seems to be recorded from the ground, black smoke can be seen coming out of the engine. As per the outlet, it was recorded by Andrew Sandino, a mechanical engineer, through the sunroof of his truck when he was leaving for work near the airport. "I noticed big black plumes of smoke coming out the right engine and then it started shooting really big fireballs out and the plane was shifting back and forth, side to side, pretty heavily," the engineer told NBC News.
He added, "I was thinking this plane may crash. If that engine just completely explodes and sends shrapnel everywhere, the plane is going to fizzle out and hit the ground."
Jordan Kleinecke, a passenger on the flight spoke to ABC News and said, "We felt like a little air pocket going up. And then I heard the boom ... and then you started smelling the fuel," Jordan Kleinecke said.
Another passenger, Lynde Kleinecke, added "When the pilot came on and told us [that] we were going back [to the airport], he hardly finished that statement before he hung up the microphone. We were kind of like, 'What does that mean? What does that mean?'"
Flight Aware data shows that the aircraft successfully landed after spending 27 minutes in the air. According to Southwest Airlines, the plane was pulled out of service and the passengers were able to continue their journey on another aircraft. Further, the incident will be investigated by Federal Aviation Administration.