An engine on an Air France flight from Paris to Los Angeles was blown apart Saturday sending airline crew and passengers into a tailspin.
"We heard a big popping sound and the airplane basically dropped and it was trembling. You could definitely tell something was different and it wasn't just turbulence," passenger Sarah Eamigh told the Daily News.
She said Air France flight AF66 was over the Atlantic when the engine blew out, causing passengers to panic and scream.
An image taken over the right wing shows the partially destroyed engine.
"Someone let out a yelp and all of a sudden the crew began to walk back and forth frantically. People were panicked."
She said the aircraft shook for about 20 minutes before it stablized.
The captain confirmed to passengers over a loudspeaker that an engine had blown out, according to Eamigh.
Emergency lights flashed as passengers were told the plane would divert to Goose Bay, Canada for an emergency landing. The plane flew for another two hours before making a smooth landing, Eamigh said.
"We were getting updates from the captain and the flight crew was trying to keep everyone calm," she said.
Daniel McNeely, also a passenger, described the incident to the Daily News.
"We had a mid-air mayday when we lost one of our engines. We got diverted for an emergency landing in Canada," he said.
The Goose Bay airport is not equipped to handle large planes, Eamigh said. Passengers remained on the plane for about an hour and a half after it landed, waiting for stairs so that they could disembark.
The flight departed Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at 11:27 a.m. Saturday, about an hour behind its originally scheduled departure time.
AirFrance responded to the incident in a statement saying that the flight had landed safely "following serious damage to one of its four engines."
"The aircraft landed safely at 15:42 (GMT), and the regularly trained pilots and cabin crew handled this serious incident perfect. The passengers are currently being assisted by teams dispatched to the location," it said.
"Air France is currently working to re-route the passengers to Los Angeles via one of its connecting platforms in North America."