Flames Seen Shooting Out From Boeing 747 Flight Over Miami

A video on social media shows flames apparently coming from a Boeing plane shortly after takeoff.

The brief clip, captured by someone on the ground, shows flames trailing an Atlas Air flight minutes after it took off from Miami International Airport on Thursday night.

The aircraft, a Boeing 747-8, took off from the Miami airport at 10:32 p.m. ET and had been heading to Puerto Rico when it was diverted, according to FlightAware.

Officials said the cargo flight landed safely at Miami airport just after 10:30 p.m. after engine failure.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate the incident.

"Atlas Air Flight 95 returned safely to Miami International Airport around 10:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Jan. 18, after the crew reported an engine failure," a spokesperson for the FAA told Newsweek.

"The Boeing 747 was headed to Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico. The FAA will investigate."

An Atlas Air spokesperson told Reuters that the aircraft had experienced an engine malfunction. "The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to [Miami International Airport]," the company said in a statement.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and no injuries were reported, the agency reported.

Newsweek has contacted the airline and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for comment via email.

The incident comes as Boeing faces increasing scrutiny after a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane was forced to make an emergency landing on January 5 after a panel blew out of the side of the plane shortly after takeoff over Portland, Oregon. None of the passengers or crew members on the Alaska Airlines flight were seriously injured and pilots made a safe emergency landing.

The NTSB is investigating, with the probe focusing on the plugs used to fill spots for extra doors when those exits are not required for safety reasons on MAX 9 planes. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines—the two U.S. carriers that fly the MAX 9—have reported finding loose bolts on door plugs that they inspected in some of their other MAX 9 jets.

The FAA has said that 40 of 171 grounded Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes need to be inspected again before the agency would review the results and determine if it is safe to allow the MAX 9s to resume flying. The FAA said on Wednesday that it is also investigating Boeing's manufacturing practices and production lines.

Earlier this week, Boeing named Kirkland H. Donald, a retired Navy admiral, as a special advisor to lead a comprehensive quality review of the company's quality management system for commercial airplanes.

"I've asked him to provide an independent and comprehensive assessment with actionable recommendations for strengthening our oversight of quality in our own factories and throughout our extended commercial airplane production system," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement.

Update 1/19/24, 3:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 1/19/24, 8:47 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the FAA.