Flames shoot from American Airlines flight before emergency landing

A video purportedly captured flames shooting out of an American Airlines flight following a bird strike before the aircraft made an emergency landing at Myrtle Beach International Airport.

The pilot of American Airlines Flight 1760, a Boeing 737-800 heading to Charlotte with 172 people on board, was heard on air traffic control recordings issuing a "mayday" call after the incident Monday morning.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday, we got an engine problem here," the pilot said.

"The engine is backfiring like crazy," another voice was heard saying in a video taken by a passenger on board the plane, which showed flames. "I think she is on fire now."

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"American Airlines Flight 1760 returned to Myrtle Beach (MYR) shortly after departure due to a maintenance issue. The aircraft landed safely and has been taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team," American Airlines told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Our team worked to get customers on their way to Charlotte (CLT) on a replacement aircraft. We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding."

American Airlines also said there was no indication of a fire in the plane's engine and there were no reported injuries. It's unclear where the flames originated.

"American Airlines Flight 1760 returned safely to Myrtle Beach International Airport around 8:40 a.m. local time on Monday, Aug. 10, after the crew reported striking a bird while departing," the Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News Digital. "The Boeing 737-800 was headed to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The FAA will investigate."

In air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC, a worker said a "significant" number of birds were found on the runway and were being removed.

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Data from the website FlightAware shows the plane departed Myrtle Beach at 8:00 a.m. ET before landing about 36 minutes later.

The FAA said on its website that there have been about 292,000 reported wildlife strikes with civil aircraft in the U.S. between 1990 and 2023.

"About 54% of bird strikes occur from July to October which is when young birds recently have fledged from nests and fall migration occurs," it said. "About 62% of bird strikes with civil aircraft occur in day, 8% occur at dawn or dusk, and 30% occur at night."

Around 70% of the strikes happen between 0 and 500 feet above ground level, the FAA also said.