American Airlines plane engine catches fire, makes emergency landing in Ohio after bird strike. An American Airlines flight headed to Phoenix on Sunday morning was rerouted back to its departure airport in Columbus, Ohio, for an emergency landing after a bird strike reportedly caused the plane’s engine to catch fire, officials said.
No one was injured, and the plane landed safely at John Glenn Columbus International Airport after 8 a.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CBS News. The agency is investigating the incident.
The plane, a Boeing 737 commercial jet, returned to the airport on Sunday about 30 minutes after its initial takeoff at around 7:45 a.m.
Ryan Brink, who was on the flight, recorded a video through one of the plane windows that seemed to show sparks coming from the right engine. He posted the video to Facebook along with several photos of the plane, which appeared to have blood spattered across one side.