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(CNN) - A United Airlines flight that departed from San Diego, California, was forced to make an emergency landing in Albuquerque after flames were seen coming out of one of the aircraft's engines.
The flight to Chicago landed safely in New Mexico early Monday and United organized a different plane to take customers to their destination, the company said in a statement to CNN.
One of the passengers, Thomas Chorny, recorded a video of the incident while sitting in seat 34F with a view of the right wing.
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Strange to sit there & think 'What if this is it?' To just sit there & accept the potential fate that seems to be a possibility & not tell the sleeping people all around you. No need to panic the others. I'm a pretty calm person but took me while to stop the shakes & trembles. pic.twitter.com/4rWfNvFhBM
- Thomas Chorny (@SteepleCoach) December 16, 2019
“The plane began to shake a little as if it was having a turbulence, but the wings were perfectly still. I was falling asleep towards the middle of the flight, but I opened my eyes to look out the window and saw flames coming out from the right engine, ”he told CNN.
“They turned off the engine, the flames went out and then we started to lean to the left for quite some time and we decreased some altitude. Another 10 minutes or so passed before they announced that we would land in Albuquerque ”
Chorny said that maybe there were only three people who saw the flames and didn't talk about it with anyone else "because he didn't want to scare people."
"It's a strange feeling to sit there without knowing exactly what was happening, but it was very easy to start getting emotional just thinking about what might have happened," he said.
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The airline said flight 366 "diverted to Albuquerque after a mechanical problem with one of the engines."
“The flight landed safely, and passengers normally got off at the boarding gate. Our maintenance team in Albuquerque will inspect the plane and organize a different plane to take our passengers to the destination they had left, ”said the company.
No injuries were reported and a full inspection will confirm the problem with the engine, United said.
emergency landing