An Atlas Air cargo flight made an emergency landing in Miami on Thursday after a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration said a “softball-sized hole” was discovered above the engine.
Atlas Air Flight 95 returned to Miami International Airport after a reported engine failure. 2. The flight, which arrived back in Miami around 11 p.m., was en route to Puerto Rico and was in the air for 14 minutes, reports CNN citing FlightAware.
The company shared in a statement to PEOPLE on Sunday that the five crew members on the cargo plane followed “all standard procedures” before the plane returned safely to Miami after takeoff. The plane “landed safely after experiencing engine failure shortly after takeoff,” according to an Atlas Air spokesman.
“At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will conduct a thorough inspection to determine the cause,” the spokesperson said.
The Boeing 747 was en route to Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, according to the FAA, and sparks were seen apparently coming from the plane in footage taken by an observer Melanie Adaros shared by CNN.
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Stock image of the 747-8 Freighter for Atlas Air.
Jason Redmond / AFP
Adaros also told the newspaper about the moment she saw the plane. “It was very scary,” she said, noting that she saw sparks in the sky while she was walking in Miami’s Kendall neighborhood around 10:40 p.m.
“I couldn’t tell if the plane was falling,” she added.
Adaros’ video showed the plane flying through the night sky with sparks trailing behind it. On the video, Adaros could be heard saying that the plane was “on fire”.
“Shit, I hope they’re okay,” she said in the video. “I wonder if they are doing it urgently [landing].”
The plane made a hard emergency landing on a highway in Virginia with 7 people on board
According to audio shared by LiveATC.net, which CNN noted was from the Atlas flight, the plane’s crew could be heard reporting an “engine fire” over air traffic communications.
“Mayday, mayday, giant 095 heavy, engine fire. Request vectors back to the airport,” the crew said.
There were no reported injuries related to the emergency landing, according to the FAA.
In addition to the inspection of Atlas Air, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, CNN notes. “The NTSB has opened an investigation and is gathering information to evaluate and determine the scope of the investigation,” the agency said. “There is no additional information to release at this time.”
Boeing told CNN that it “supports our customer and will support the NTSB’s investigation into this incident.”
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