United Airlines Plane Forced to Return to O'Hare After Flames "Shoot Out" From Engine
United Flight 835 to Sao Paulo landed without incident about 40 minutes after takeoff Sunday night, United spokeswoman Andrea Arroyo said.
The Boeing 767 was carrying 179 passengers and 12 crew members when it departed, she said.
``The plane is intact,'' Arroyo said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane's crew reported a problem with one of its engines shortly after its departure from O'Hare at about 9:50 p.m.
The pilot reported ``a compressor stall, something that caused flames to shoot out from the engine,'' according to the FAA.
The plane was over Lake Michigan when the problem was noticed on board, Arroyo said.
The pilot then reduced the aircraft's weight before making an emergency landing by circling over the lake, said the FAA, which is investigating the incident.
The Elk Grove Village Fire Department said residents of the suburban Chicago community called 911 and reported seeing flames coming from the plane.
Elk Grove Village Fire Capt. Scott Miller said some of the firefighters heard a series of ``explosions or concussions'' from inside their station, which is near O'Hare.
``We went out in front of station and we observed the plane circling the community,'' Miller said. ``We thought we had observed a bit of flames coming out from one of the wings.''
Mike Hamby, an Elk Grove Village resident, said he heard a boom ``like thunder,'' looked up and saw a jetliner with its left wing engine flashing.
Arroyo said hotel accommodations were being provided to the passengers of United Flight 835. They will resume their trip Monday, she added.
It was the second time in five weeks that a plane had to return to O'Hare because of engine problems.
Engine failure forced an American Airlines plane to make an emergency landing at O'Hare in September. It was later determined that a bird had been sucked into one of the plane's engines, apparently causing a fire.
The incident occurred just after the MD-80 jet had taken off from O'Hare, bound for Philadelphia. None of the 112 people aboard that plane were injured.
