MIAMI.– A cargo plane made an emergency landing at Miami International Airport after suffering engine failure shortly after takeoff, an airline spokesperson said.
The plane landed safely Thursday night “after experiencing an engine malfunction shortly after departure,” an Atlas Air spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “The crew followed all established procedures and returned safely to MIA.”
The Boeing 747 was headed to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico at the time the crew reported the failure, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Atlas Air Flight 95 returned without incident to Miami International Airport, according to the agency.
Atlas will conduct an inspection to determine the cause, the spokesperson said.
The plane was “shooting sparks” as it flew overhead, said Melanie Adaros, who was about to enter her house after taking a walk with her mother when she heard and saw an approaching plane.
“There are always planes flying overhead, but they are small planes,” he said. “But this didn’t look like a small plane. It sounded very quiet, so I turned around… You always see a plane going up or down. This was at a stable level and was shooting sparks. “It was something very unreal.”
Adaros recorded the incident with his phone and wondered: ”Is he falling? Will explode?”.
“It seemed to make a big, wide turn” toward Miami International Airport, he added.
Adaros, who lives near Miami Executive Airport, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Miami, said he shared his video with airport authorities, who confirmed a few minutes later that he had landed safely at the International Airport. of Miami.
Unverified videos that were spread on social media platform X showed flames coming from the wing of a plane in mid-flight near the airport.
Atlas Air transports everything from machinery to perishable foods and pharmaceuticals, and also offers charter services for passengers, according to its website. The company’s parent company, Atlas Air Worldwide, recently announced that it plans to move its headquarters from Purchase, New York, to White Plains, New York, this month.
Source: With information from AP
