Fire in the sky: Southwest flight makes emergency landing after engine experiences 'performance issues'

Southwest plane’s engine burst into flames midair

Midair a Southwest plane’s right engine burst info flames forcing an emergency landing. None of the passanegers were reportedly injured. You have to see it to believe it.

A Southwest Airlines flight heading from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing after one of its engines caught fire moments after takeoff on Monday morning.

Southwest Airlines Flight 604 departed from Salt Lake City International Airport at 6:40 a.m., but soon began experiencing what Southwest has called a “performance issue” with an engine.

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“The pilots of flight 604 operating today from Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) elected to return to SLC after receiving a cockpit indication of a performance issue with one of the aircraft engines,” said Southwest in a statement.

“Following established protocol and procedures, the pilots completed an uneventful landing.”

Nancy Volmer, a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City International Airport, confirmed that none of the passengers were injured, the Associated Press reported.

Reddit user Ben McConkie managed to catch footage of the aircraft from the ground, claiming that he was alerted to the incident after hearing “loud popping noises” from overhead.

I was walking into work this morning and heard some loud popping noises. I looked up and saw flames coming from this plane. from r/SaltLakeCity

“Well that doesn’t look good. Hopefully they made it back down,” wrote one commenter on McConkie's post.

Another simply wrote, "OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!! LOOK AT THAT PLANE!! LOOK!!!"

Comment from discussion I was walking into work this morning and heard some loud popping noises. I looked up and saw flames coming from this plane..

SEE IT: UNITED FLIGHT LANDS SAFELY AFTER BLOWING A TIRE ON TAKEOFF

Southwest passengers were moved to a new aircraft to continue their trip to Los Angeles International Airport. The airline apologized to the affected passengers.

“We apologize for the inconvenience, but safety is always our top priority at Southwest Airlines,” said a spokesperson.