SPINE-chilling footage captures the shocking moment a bird flew into a plane engine triggering a huge fireball in mid-air.
The American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing just minutes after takeoff.
Officials say the plane from New York’s LaGuardia Airport was diverted following the terrifying mic-air incident and was redirected to nearby JFK.
Passenger Crystal Groves Thomas, who was on the North Carolina-bound aircraft, captured footage of the moment the bird collided with the plane.
As the Airbus A321 made its ascent just after 7 pm on Thursday, December 12, a bird struck one of the engines, leading to an explosion.
A heart-stopping clip posted on X shows the moment the engine sucks up the poor bird, which appears to catch fire and explode in flames.
The plane tilts to the side as terrified passengers watch on.
“I thought I was gonna die,” Amy Stamper told the New York Post.
“There were a couple of small explosions, and then there was a fire,” she added.
Another unnamed passenger said they saw “two flames in the sky,” and began to pray.
The pilot’s report to air traffic control was shared with ABC13 Eyewitness News.
“It appears we have an engine failure, but we’re still kind of working through to figure out what’s going on,” they said.
“We hit birds on the way out.”
The flight heading for Charlotte had 190 passengers and six crew members on board.
No one was injured in the incident.
Passengers were put up in a local hotel until their rescheduled flight on Friday, December 13.
The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s requests for comment.
AMERICAN AIRLINES STATEMENT
After a frightening event in which a bird collided with a plane’s engine, leading to an emergency landing, American Airlines released the following announcement:
“American Airlines flight 1722, traveling from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Charlotte (CLT), had to divert to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) following a bird strike incident.
“The aircraft landed safely at JFK where it will be inspected by our maintenance team.
“We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
The shocking incident sparked similarities with the Miracle on the Hudson back in 2009.
That flight also took off from LaGuardia with a scheduled stop in Charlotte en route to Seattle.
But minutes after takeoff, a bird strike knocked out power to both of its engines.
The remarkable and prompt actions of pilot Captain Chesley Sullenberger ensured that the aircraft could glide and touch down safely on the Hudson River without any injuries or casualties.
The Federal Aviation Administration says bird strikes are increasing, with 19,400 strikes at 713 airports across the US last year alone.
