Passengers on a flight from LaGuardia to Charlotte, NC on Thursday night feared for their lives after a bird flew into the engine of the plane and caused it to explode into flames just moments after takeoff. And the terrifying ordeal was all caught on video.
New York's NBC 4 News reports that the American Airlines flight 1722 was abruptly diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport, where it landed safely and would be inspected by the carrier's maintenance team. The airline said that 190 passengers and six crew members were aboard the flight at the time of the incident.
In video recorded by a passenger, the plane can be seen taking off normally, before the bird strikes the engine mere seconds into the flight, causing it to burst into flames.
The New York Post spoke with several passengers aboard the flight who recalled the scary incident as they waited for their luggage at JFK.
"I thought I was gonna die," said one woman named Amy Stamper from Tennessee. "I was scared. I thought I was gonna die. There were a couple of small explosions. And there was a fire."
Another passenger who wanted to remain anonymous echoed her sentiments. "I was right by the wing and I saw it. I saw two flames in the sky," the man recalled. "I thought I was gonna die. I prayed. I thought I was gonna die for about 30 seconds."
A third passenger, Eric Halili, 43, who was visiting New York for work, told the Post that he “absolutely” feared for his life. "I think that was a very traumatic experience and what made it worse was that we had to wait over an hour to get our bags," he recalled. "You just wanted the day to end and it just didn’t end."
Passengers were provided with hotel accommodations overnight on Thursday and rescheduled for a Friday morning departure. In a statement, American Airlines said, "We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused."
