Watch: Plane engine bursts into flames mid-air moments after take-off

In a terrifying video that went viral online, a Boeing 737 was forced to make an emergency landing after the engine burst into flames moments after take off.

The United Airlines flight to Fort Myers, Florida had just set off from Houston when the incident unfolded around ’15 minutes’ into the flight.

Video footage shows flashes of orange sparking from the rear of the engine, illuminating the night sky as a voice speaks over the airplane’s intercom.

They said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we realise something happened outside.’

Moments later, the flight returned to George Bush Intercontinental Airport where it made an emergency landing around 7pm on Monday.

No injuries were reported.

United Airlines said ‘the flight landed safely and the passengers deplaned normally’, adding it ‘arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination’.

Passenger Dorian D. Cerda told Storyful the plane was ‘approximately 15 minutes’ into the two-hour trip when the incident occurred, with the jet landing just before 7pm.