American Airlines has refuted claims that passengers weren't offered hotel accommodations. (iStock)
An American Airlines flight was forced to turn around Wednesday morning after experiencing a mechanical issue, a spokesperson for the airline told Fox News. Passengers on board said the plane began shooting sparks.
At 7:45 Wednesday morning, an American Airlines flight carrying 187 people departed Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina for Chicago. Almost immediately the flight turned around and landed safely back at Charlotte Douglas airport at 8:16 am.
“It returned due to a mechanical issue – a compressor stall. The aircraft returned to Charlotte, landed safely, and taxied to the gate. Took off at 7:42 a.m. ET, and landed back at CLT at 8:16 a.m. Passengers boarded a different aircraft, which then re-departed for Chicago,” the airline said in a statement to Fox News.
According to Channel 9, passengers on the plane said the flight was shaky from the get-go.
“As we took off from Charlotte, there was a rattling and shaking on the plane,” Jesse Batson said. “It was a very bumpy take-off.”
Several passengers seated near the window said they saw sparks flying from the engine – and one person on the ground filmed the plane flying over with what appears to be visible sparks shooting from the plane.
One passenger, Mark Barber, told Channel 9 he could hear the engine making noise.
"You could hear it popping," passenger Mark Ponder said. "As we went up in the air, I could hear large noises and almost immediately you can see flames coming from the engine."
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Though the pilot told Channel 9 that he did not see flames, he still requested fire crews to meet the plane when it landed.
No one was reported injured.