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Video: Boeing Plane on Fire While Making Emergency Landing, 'Softball-Size Hole' Found in Engine The Boeing 747 cargo plane operated by Atlas Air landed safely, and no injuries were reported.

By Emily Rella

Key Takeaways

  • An Atlas Air flight departed from Miami International Airport just after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, but quickly made an emergency landing after an "engine malfunction soon after departure."
  • Videos on social media show the plane on fire as it descends for landing.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It's been a bad month to be Boeing as a series of incidents have led to several emergency landings.

A Boeing 747 cargo plane began shooting sparks shortly after taking off from Miami International Airport Thursday night and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Atlas Air said the incident was due to an "engine malfunction soon after departure" and confirmed that the aircraft landed safely with no injuries. The plane was headed to Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico.

Related: Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Japan After Window Cracks on Boeing Aircraft

Melanie Adaros, who witnessed the incident and took the video footage that has since gone viral on social media, said she saw the plane "swerving" and wondered whether or not it was going to fall or explode.

"There's always planes flying overhead, but they're little planes," Adaros told the Associated Press. "But this didn't sound like a little plane. It sounded very low, so I turned ... You always see a plane going up or going down. This one was just at a steady level and it was shooting sparks. It was very surreal."

In a post-flight inspection, the FAA said that it found a "softball-sized hole" near the second engine of the plane.

"We can confirm that Flight 5Y095, a 747-8 cargo aircraft, has landed safely after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure from Miami International Airport (MIA)," Atlas Air told local outlet FOX 35 in a statement. "The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA. At Atlas, safety is always our top priority and we will be conducting a thorough inspection."

Related: 'Grateful to be Alive': Passengers Recall Harrowing Moment Airplane Door Flew Off Alaska Airlines Flight

This is the third incident with a Boeing plane this year.

Earlier this month, an Alaska Airlines plane was forced to emergency land after an emergency door panel blew out of the plane mid-flight.

Just days ago, another Boeing plane had to emergency land in Japan after a crack was found in the cockpit window 40 minutes into the flight.

Boeing was down just under 19% in a one-month period as of Friday afternoon.

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

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