Boeing Jet Makes Emergency Landing in Fiery Mid-Air Incident

A Boeing jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday after one of the beleaguered manufacturer's planes suffered another scary mid-air incident. The New York Post reported the harrowing episode.

At around 5:15 p.m. local time Wednesday, a Boeing 747-400 operated by Garuda Indonesia departed from the city of Makassar en route to Saudi Arabia when one of its engines suddenly caught fire, terrifying all 468 passengers on board. Many travelers were headed to Mecca for their holy pilgrimage.

Video widely circulated on social media, shows flames shooting from the engine of the aircraft just as one of its wheels lifts off from the runway. According to the airline, the pilot immediately landed the plane and returned to the airport.

“The decision was made by the pilot in command immediately after take-off, considering engine problems that required further examination after sparks of fire were observed in one of the engines,” Garuda’s president, Irfan Setiaputra, told Agence France-Presse (via NYP).

Officials report that the plane was been grounded pending the results of an ongoing investigation.

Boeing has had a rough 2024, to put it mildly, as far as customer safety is concerned. After a mid-air door blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this year, Boeing determined that there were further safety and manufacturing issues with its aircraft.

A succession of equally alarming Boeing incidents quickly made headlines. In April, a traveler caught footage of a 737 engine deteriorating mid-flight; later in the month, a separate Boeing jet bounced on and off of the runway as it attempted to make an ill-fated landing.