Flames burst from a Southwest Airlines jet in the sky near Houston, forcing the distressed plane into a hasty retreat and safe landing, officials said Wednesday.
Flight 307 took off from Houston, bound for the Mexican resort town of Cancun, before returning to Hobby Airport "on Tuesday night after experiencing a mechanical issue shortly after takeoff," according to statement from the Dallas-based carrier.
"The aircraft landed safely and was taken out of service for review," the airline added. "A different aircraft continued the flight to Cancun last evening, and we appreciate our Customers’ patience and support."
Mechanical engineer Andrew Sandino, 38, was leaving work near Hobby when he looked up and captured a moment of flames shooting out of an engine. But the scenes before he pointed his cell phone up through the sunroof of his truck were even scarier.
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"I noticed big black plumes of smoke coming out the right engine and then it started shooting really big fireballs out and the plane was shifting back and forth, side to side, pretty heavily," Sandino told NBC News on Thursday.
Flight 307 was only in the air for 16 minutes, total, before passengers were back on the ground and moved to a new plane.
Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.
