Some frightening moments in the air were captured on video, as a photographer recorded the moment sparks were seen shooting out from the bottom of a United Airlines flight that had just taken off from Newark Airport.
Murtalla Mbacke had just finished his shift as a gate agent at the New Jersey airport on Wednesday when he captured the stunning video. He can be heard shouting as the sparks pour from the bottom and rear of the flight during its ascent.
"I was actually yelling because I was excited and also shocked, like is this really happening?" Mbacke told NBC New York.
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United said that the flight to Brazil experienced a mechanical issue, likely a hydraulic pump, which may have caused the sparks, which slowly fell from the sky.
"It almost seemed like paper that was falling, it was that slow," said Mbacke.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing, but only after circling over the Atlantic for about 90 minutes to burn fuel.
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"That plane was very heavy, so I knew he couldn't come back and land because it would be an overweight landing," said Mbacke.
United said that the Boeing 777 with 256 passengers on board landed safely. After the scare, a new plane departed for Brazil Thursday morning.
