2024 is off to a pretty terrible start for Boeing. First, a cabin panel blowout on a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft forced the jet to make an emergency landing, which led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily ground most of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 jets. Now, barely two weeks later, another catastrophe has struck.
Late at night on Thursday, Jan 18th, an Atlas Boeing 747-8 cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Miami after suffering an engine fire. The plane had barely begun its journey to San Juan, Puerto Rico when the fire erupted. Video footage quickly went viral of the plane blazing through the air, a shocking view across the night sky.
The video was taken by Melanie Adaros, who was walking near her home around 10:40 pm in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami when she saw the spectacle in midair. “It was very frightening,” said Adaros. “I couldn’t tell if the plane was going down.”
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, the fire broke out three minutes into the flight, and the plane was only in the air for a total of 14 minutes. Thankfully, the plane managed to land safely in Miami, with none of its five crew members sustaining any reported injuries. To determine the cause of the fire and hopefully prevent a repeat occurrence, the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are conducting an investigation.
While the exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined, reports from the initial post-flight inspection found a softball-sized hole above the engine. The incident report states that the flight’s No. 2 engine failed, which is the inboard engine on the left wing of the plane. NTSB has stated it “has opened an investigation and is collecting information to evaluate and determine the scope of the investigation.”
Audio posted on LiveATC.net shows the frantic communications between the crew and airforce traffic control. “Mayday, mayday, giant 095 heavy engine fire,” says one of the crew members. “Request vectors back to the airport.”
According to Atlas Air, the crew followed all standard procedures, safely returning the plane to Miami International. Boeing has stated its support for Atlas and agreed to support the NTSB investigation as it looks into the incident.
Reactions on social media have been critical of Boeing and the recent spate of incidents.
Taken with the other Boeing Incident in early January, these catastrophes certainly a terrifying prospect for anyone planning a trip anytime soon. From flight malfunctions to predators on planes, it seems there’s a lot going on on planes right now. But hey–at least it wasn’t intentional.
We will certainly keep an eye out for the results of the investigation to see what caused the fire and how it could be prevented in the future. In the meantime, we’re just thankful that no one was injured in the incident.
