United jet’s engine catches fire mid-flight, plane turns back to Houston shortly after takeoff

A United Airlines flight from Houston to Florida made an emergency landing this week after one of its engines caught fire mid-flight.

The fire broke out shortly after Flight 1118 took off from George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 6:40 p.m. Monday.

No injuries were reported, a United spokesperson told USA TODAY Thursday.

The spokesman said the plane was bound for Southwest Florida International Airport before the fire started.

“United Airlines Flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue. The aircraft landed safely and passengers deplaned normally,” United said in a statement to USA TODAY.

The airline said it had booked a new plane that left for Fort Myers later that night.

A video circulating on social media, taken by passengers, shows flames shooting out of the plane’s left engine.

“I’m grateful to be safely on the ground,” read one post from user @jboulah, who said he was on Flight 1118.

“I remember there was just this bright, flashing light coming through the window, and it sounded like a bomb going off, and then it was just a strobe of fire coming out the window,” David Gruninger, who was on the flight back to Florida with 15 friends, told KTRK-TV in Houston.

United Flight 1118 turned back shortly after takeoff

FlightAware, which tracks aircraft flight patterns in real time, shows that the plane turned around at 6:52 p.m. and landed at the airport it had taken off from at 7:13 p.m.

“The return trip was very bumpy and the landing was quite rough,” Gruninger told the outlet.

According to a United email provided by a passenger obtained by KTKR, the airline offered passengers a $200 flight credit and a $15 meal voucher.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Plane engine catches fire; United Airlines flight returns to Houston