Video Captures Passenger Jet Spewing Fire After Taking Off From Los Angeles

A Philippine Airlines flight with 342 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after flames started shooting out of the engine. A few minutes after takeoff, the pilot made a mayday call and requested to return to the airport.

Passengers were terrified as the engine backfired, spewing plumes of fire into the sky.

"I could see flashes of light. I thought it was some kind of, just from the sunlight, and then I just start hearing 'boom, boom, boom,' and I look out of the window and there's balls of fires just shooting out of the engine," Walter Baumann, one of the passengers, told KABC.

Another passenger, Adam Taylor, was recording his daughter, Maui, when they heard the loud booms.

“I wanted to film her reaction taking off on a plane. When I saw the flames, I didn't know what to think. Is this like a car when it backfires?” he wondered.

Taylor realized the situation was serious when he saw the flight attendants' reactions.

“I know flight attendants aren't supposed to panic, so at that point I'm like this is pretty serious,” he said.

The pilot turned the plane around and made a hard landing that caused the tires to burst when they hit the runway.

"Boom! And the wheels all popped. It was crazy," passenger Eugene Lowe said.

All of the passengers and the 18 crew members were safely evacuated from the jet and bussed back to the terminal. Philippine Airlines did not have another plane available and is trying to find alternative flights for the stranded passengers.

Officials said that the emergency landing did not impact other flights and that the airport is operating normally.


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