CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Monday, just minutes after taking off.
“All of a sudden, we heard this loud ‘pop’ come from the right side of the airplane,” passenger Dave Pedron said.
The airline confirmed to Channel 9 that Flight 1115 took off from the airport and headed to Philadelphia just after 3:30 p.m.
Authorities said a possible mechanical issue forced the plane to turn around. It landed safely back in Charlotte at 3:45 p.m.
Pedron was one of 183 passengers and seven crew members on board. He said he will never forget the moments between the “pop” and the emergency landing.
The captain told the passengers they had nothing to worry about, he said.
"We have to make an emergency landing,” Pedron said the captain announced. “Be prepared to see emergency vehicles down on the runway. It's not a big deal. We should be fine."
Pedron started texting his family to say good-bye.
“It was hard typing it,” Pedron said. “It really was. I didn’t want to believe it, but I was, like, I gotta do this. I would definitely say it was a moment where I thought I could actually die.”
No one was hurt.
Officials said passengers boarded a different plane bound for Philadelphia.
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