American Airlines flight makes emergency landing after bird flies into engine. Watch

The passengers of an American Airlines flight bound for North Carolina were left fearing for their lives on Thursday after a bird struck the plane engine

An American Airlines flight bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, was forced to make an emergency landing after a bird flew into its engine. The scary incident took place shortly after the Airbus A321 took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Just minutes into the air, a bird struck the plane's engine, rendering its right propellant useless. As the passengers feared for their lives, the plane was quickly diverted to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens.

A bird flew into the engine of an American Airlines flight on Thursday, forcing the flight bound for North Carolina to make an emergency landing in New York (X)

American Airlines flight makes emergency landing at JFK after bird strikes engine

Flight 1722 was initially scheduled to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport but was forced to divert back to New York after barely making it past the coast of Long Island. Since the bird strike caused severe damage to the primary engine, the plane made the emergency landing solely on its secondary engine, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

None of the 190 passengers or six crew members were hurt during the incident, and the flight landed safely without incident at JFK, according to a spokesperson for the airline, per WCNC. “We are grateful to our crew for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this may have caused,” American Airlines said in a statement to the network.

The airline further revealed that all the passengers were provided a hotel stay for the night as the plane was scheduled to re-depart Friday morning. Viral footage of the incident shared on X shows the horrific moment the bird flew into the engine and exploded into flames. In a conversation with the New York Post, several passengers confessed to fearing for their lives.

“I thought I was gonna die,” passenger Amy Stamper told the outlet. “I was scared. I thought I was gonna die. There were a couple of small explosions. And there was a fire,” the Tennessee native added. Another unnamed passenger said, “I was right by the wing and I saw it. I saw two flames in the sky… I thought I was gonna die. I prayed. I thought I was gonna die for about 30 seconds.”