A UNITED Airlines passengers was left “shaking and trembling” after spotting flames shooting from the engine of the plane mid-flight.
Thomas Chorny was travelling on flight 366 from San Diego to Chicago when it was forced to make an emergency landing in New Mexico.
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Thomas, who was sitting in seat 34F, was able to see the fire from his window of the plane which was carrying 152 passengers at the time.
He posted a video on Twitter, with the caption: “Strange to sit there & think ‘What if this is it?’
“To just sit there & accept the potential fate that seems to be a possibility & not tell the sleeping people all around you.
“No need to panic the others.”
He added: “I’m a pretty calm person but took me a while to stop the shakes & trembles.”
Thomas explained to CNN that the plane suffered some turbulence through the flight, but it was only when it had calmed down and he looked out the window that he spotted the fire.
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The pilots then shut down the engine to stop the flames, before the plane dropped in altitude and announced they would be landing in Albuquerque instead.
He added that there were only a few others who spotted the flames and he started “getting emotional” thinking about what might have happened.
No injuries were reported and passengers were put on a different aircraft to continue their journey.
A United Airlines spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “United flight 366 from San Diego to Chicago diverted to Albuquerque following a mechanical issue with one of the engines.
“The flight landed safely, and customers deplaned normally at the gate.
“Our maintenance team in Albuquerque will inspect the aircraft and we’ve arranged for a different plane to get our customers to their destination which has departed.”
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After posting the video to Twitter, people praised Thomas for staying calm.
Jeff Geurin told him: “Good job remaining calm and not alerting the other passengers. A plane full of panicked passengers would have been more dangerous than what’s going on in that video, which looks like an engine surge.”
Karen Wheeler added: “KUDOS to you for remaining calm and thinking about your fellow passengers and not causing unnecessary stress and calamity.”
Jenny Leddy said her “husband was also on that flight” and spotted the engine fire, but was thankful that the plane landed safely.
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Terrified passengers “wrote goodbye messages to their loved ones” after a plane engine caught fire earlier this year.
Last month, a Philippines Airlines flight to Manila was forced to land in Los Angeles after balls of flames burst from the plane engine.
Both flights landed safely with no injuries.
