This is the terrifying moment a plane engine exploded shortly after taking off in Romania.
The HiSky Europe Airbus A320 had left the capital at 6:47pm on March 3, bound for Oradea International Airport in the western part of the country.
But flight H4762 suffered a sudden engine failure during its ascent, with lights from the capital city below still visible from footage captured by passengers.
Startling footage shows flames shooting from the left wing as the plane glided above Bucharest.
A loud rumbling could be heard from inside the jet – but the passengers on board were eerily quiet.
Sorin Balogh, on board at the time, said fliers were ‘too shocked to react’ as the left side of the plane glowed orange.
The fast-acting female pilot turned the aircraft back and made an emergency landing at the Henri Coanda International Airport – just 17 minutes after taking off.
No injuries were reported but the plane was taken out of service for checks.
Mr Balogh said that the Mayor of Oradea was on board at the time, seated a few rows behind.
After the incident, he contacted the former mayor, who helped arrange accommodation for the affected passengers, he said.
An incident report from the Aviation Safety Network stated: ‘HiSky Europe flight H4762, an Airbus A320-232, suffered an engine failure on departure from OTP.
‘The aircraft returned to land for a safe landing, 17 minutes after takeoff.’
HiSky is a privately owned airline that, since 2021, has operated regular and charter passenger flights from Romania and the Republic of Moldova to more than 20 domestic and international destinations.
The company operates a fleet of seven aircraft from the Airbus A320 family, including four A320s with 180 seats, one A319 with 144 seats, and two A321neoLRs, configured with 201 and 220 seats.
Two days before Christmas, another flight from Bucharest was forced to make an emergency landing when the cabin filled with smoke.
Passengers claimed that an engine had exploded and caused a fire. This was not immediately confimed.
Footage did show heavy smoke engulfing the cabin on the Swiss airlines flight from Bucharest to Zurich, Switzerland, late on December 23.
Twelve passengers were injured in the fracas and one crew member was placed in intensive care.
A witness told Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten that the flight attendant was unconscious at the time of the evacuation and had to be resuscitated by other crew members.
The plane had to make an emergency landing in Graz, Austria, and all passengers and crew had to be evacuated from the aircraft.
Swiss said at the time it was monitoring the condition of the crew member, and shared its thoughts with those affected.
It also confirmed the emergency landing at the time: ‘SWISS flight LX1885 from Bucharest to Zurich made an emergency landing in Graz due to smoke.
‘All 74 passengers and 5 crew members have been evacuated, with 17 requiring medical attention.’
It added that a special flight was due to depart at 9.45am on Tuesday to return the passengers to Zurich before Christmas Day.
