Passengers on a flight from Las Vegas to Florida were left screaming in horror after part of the plane's engine appeared to fall apart during takeoff.
ABC10 anchor Brandon Rittiman tweeted that his friend CJ Gunnerson was on the flight, which had to make an emergency landing in Las Vegas.
“‘The hatch came up and ripped during take off,’ he tells me,” Mr Rittiman said.
“People were ‘jumping up screaming, slamming on the roof. Yelling stop.’”
WGN-TV anchor Dan Ponce tweeted a picture sent to him by his aunt, showing bits of jagged metal hanging from the engine.
“The plane was able to turn around and land,” he said.
“She says all passengers got a free breakfast voucher.”
Frontier Flight 260 took off for Tampa at 7.12am local time with 171 passengers and six crew members on board and returned to Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport at 7.27am.
The plane landed safely and there were no injuries, according to the airline.
Frontier spokeswoman Allison Redmon told USA Today a section of the engine cover called a cowling came loose and separated from the plane
"The engine continued to operate normally and the aircraft, an Airbus 320, landed safely,” she said in a statement.
“Safety is our top priority at Frontier Airlines and we would like to acknowledge the professionalism of our pilots and flight attendants.''
