INDIANAPOLIS — It was a scary morning for passengers onboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Las Vegas Friday morning.
Brian Koning spoke to 13News after his flight had to turn around and land back in Indy.
"The left engine blew. So, there was an explosion and a big flash. My wife and I were sitting right behind the wing. So, we saw it, and it was pretty scary. Everybody started panicking a little bit. We circled Indianapolis for probably about a half an hour or so," Koning said. "Because we had so much fuel, we burnt the brakes out on landing."
Koning was boarding a flight to Las Vegas to celebrate his birthday, as well as his son's 21st birthday.
"I didn't know whether to text people and let them know what was going on. You didn't know if it was going to go down or what was going on," Koning said.
Koning said emergency vehicles met the plane on the tarmac after it landed.
Southwest tells 13News there was a mechanical issue to its number one engine. The aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection.
Southwest released the following statement:
"The flight crew of flight #2399 from Indianapolis to Las Vegas made the decision to divert back to Indianapolis due to a mechanical issue with the number one engine. The flight landed safely without incident and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection. We will accommodate passengers traveling to Las Vegas on a different flight."