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An Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane has been filmed on fire above the US city of Miami, where it made an emergency landing late on Thursday, local time, shortly after take-off.
- The cargo plane's crew said the fire started "on the climb", before the jet safely turned around and made an emergency landing
- Investigators say they found a tennis ball-sized hole above one of the engines in a post-flight inspection
- Carrier Atlas Air said it would also conduct an investigation into the cause of the engine issue
Unverified video on social media showed flames shooting out of the left wing of the aircraft while in flight.
The Atlas Air Flight was headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Miami International Airport.
The pilot made an emergency call to report an engine fire and requested to return to the airport, according to multi-channel recordings of conversations between air traffic control and the plane.
"We have a engine fire," one of the plane crew said, adding the fire occurred "on the climb out" of the airport.
The plane with five crew members safely returned and no injuries were reported.
America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
The FAA says a post-flight inspection found a tennis ball-sized hole above the engine, while the NTSB says it "has opened an investigation and is collecting information to evaluate and determine scope of the investigation".
Atlas Air said its crew "followed all standard procedures and safely returned to (Miami International)," adding that it would conduct an inspection to find the cause.
US air safety expert John Cox said having problems with one engine was generally not a significant event, but the incident sounded like an uncontained engine failure due to the hole and the NTSB investigation.
"On the interior of that engine there are a lot of rotating parts including blades," Mr Cox said.
"An engine is designed to try and contain a blade separation and they do testing and certification for it. But it does happen that you get an uncontained failure. When you do, it does elevate the investigative significance of it."
Mr Cox said incidents of uncontained engine failures, like a 2018 Southwest Airlines flight where a passenger was partially sucked out the window, are coming under increased scrutiny.
Investigators will be looking at questions like the age of the engine and its maintenance record.
Boeing said it was supporting Atlas Air and the NTSB investigation.
The Atlas Boeing 747-8 is eight years old according to the FAA, and is powered by four General Electric GEnx engines. GE Aerospace said it was providing technical assistance to the FAA and the NTSB.
The engine failure comes against the backdrop of two high-profile jetliner accidents this year.
An Airbus A350 passenger plane operated by Japan Airlines collided with a Coast Guard aircraft in Tokyo on January 2, killing five crew members.
A few days later, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet made an emergency landing following a cabin panel blowout above the US city of Portland, which prompted the FAA to temporarily ground all jets of that model for safety checks.
A small Cessna passenger plane also made an emergency landing on a highway in the US state of Virginia on Friday, January 19, but no injuries were reported.
Reuters/AP