Cargo plane makes emergency landing after engine fire

An Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane made an emergency landing in Miami late Thursday shortly after departure after suffering an engine fire.

The plane with five crew members safely returned and no injuries were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

The FAA said a post-flight inspection showed a softball-size hole above the engine, while the NTSB said it "has opened an investigation and is collecting information to evaluate and determine scope of the investigation."

Unverified videos on social media platform X showed flames shooting out of the left wing of the aircraft while in flight.

"The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to (Miami International)," the air freight company said, adding that it would conduct an inspection to find the cause.

Boeing said it is supporting Atlas and "will support the NTSB investigation into this incident."

📽️ | Atlas Air Flight 5Y95, a #Boeing 747-8 (N859GT) bound for San Juan, experienced engine problems after takeoff from Miami International Airport, Florida (MIA). The flight returned to land at MIA Airport 14 minutes after the state of emergency was declared.

📽️ Chuck Callesto pic.twitter.com/uz8WgkdZaS

— Aviation Culture (@AviCultureEn) January 19, 2024

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 is providing technical assistance to the FAA and the NTSB as they investigate.

The engine failure comes against the backdrop of two high-profile jetliner accidents this year.

An Airbus passenger plane operated by Japan Airlines collided with a Coast Guard aircraft in Tokyo, killing five crew members on January 2.

A few days later, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet made an emergency landing following a cabin panel blowout, which prompted the FAA to temporarily ground 171 jets for safety checks.

The Atlas Air Flight was headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Miami International Airport late Thursday.

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 available on liveatc.net.

"We have a engine fire," one of the plane crew said, adding the fire occurred "on the climb out" of the airport.

Atlas Air, whose customers include parcel delivery giants DHL and FedEx, went private last year when it was bought by a group led by private equity Apollo Global Management.

A freighter version of the last commercial Boeing jumbo was delivered to Atlas Air last year.