'PEOPLE WERE SCREAMING'
Air passengers’ horror as plane engine ‘falls apart mid-flight’
The Frontier Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Tampa descended into chaos shortly after takeoff on Friday
AIRLINE passengers watched in horror as one of their plane's engines RIPPED OPEN while in the air.
Terrifying pictures taken by freaked-out flyers on board the Frontier flight on Friday show one of the jet's engine covers hanging off thousands of feet above the desert below.
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The US domestic flight from Las Vegas to Tampa was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing just ten minutes after takeoff from McCarran International Airport.
Emergency services were waiting for the faltering flight as it touched back down on the tarmac.
One petrified passenger told she text her daughter to say she loved her amid the chaos in the cabin.
Stella Ponce said: "I was sleeping, and I woke up to a lot of screaming and yelling.
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"People were yelling for the pilot to stop.
"Two women were crying, and people were pointing out the window."
The part of the engine which flew open is a metal engine cover called a cowling which had come loose during the very first minutes of the journey.
Over 170 passengers were on board along with six crew members, who were all unharmed in the mid-air mishap.
The travellers were each reportedly given a refund and a $500 voucher for another Frontier flight in future.
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A statement about the incident released by Frontier Airlines said: "Our pilots followed procedure and immediately returned to the airport.
"The engine continued to operate normally and the aircraft, an Airbus 320, landed safely.
";Safety is our top priority at Frontier Airlines and we would like to acknowledge the professionalism of our pilots and flight attendants."
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