Air France Flight A380 Emergency Landing In Newfoundland After Engine Disintegrates Mid-Air

Passengers on Air France flight A380 survived a terrifying experience on Saturday when one of the super jumbo jet’s engines “blew apart” in midair. According to CTV News, the Air France flight was on its way from Paris to Los Angeles with no apparent problems when, without warning, the engine failed spectacularly.

As flight A380 neared the closest airport in Goose Bay, Labrador, Newfoundland, frightened passengers looked out the window to see a partially destroyed engine while the jet continued to remain precariously airborne at 37,000 feet.

The Air France pilot was able to bring the jet to safety in the small airport at Goose Bay despite the loss of one engine. Labrador is part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, but is part of the mainland further north and separate from the island province. Goose Bay is also the site of a Canadian Air Force base, but the military were not required to help in the emergency situation.

The Sun reported that passengers on board turned on their smartphones to live tweet the scary event after they heard a “loud thud and a lot of vibration.” When people on that side of the plane looked out the window, they saw a horrifying site. The engine was battered and nearly destroyed, with its cowling almost torn off.

One passenger speculated that the disaster might have been caused by a bird strike.

Dan Mcneely was on Air France flight A380 and managed to snap a pic of the engine itself. He tweeted that he thought the engine had seen better days.

This isn’t the first time that Newfoundland and Labrador have hosted stranded airline passengers during a crisis. On September 11, 2001, multiple flights landed in Gander, Newfoundland when the Twin Towers fell and airline traffic across the continent was grounded.

Broadway World shared that 38 flights with 6,579 passengers arrived in the remote island town that day, and the locals welcomed them in true hospitable Newfoundland style. The experience eventually led to the smash Broadway musical, Come From Away.

According to Reuters, Air France described the damage to Air France flight A380’s engine as “serious” and confirmed that the pilot and crew handled the situation very well and landed the jet safely.

[Featured Image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]