COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Airplane emergencies are in the news again, this time after passengers saw flames coming out of the engine of a United Airlines plane taking off from Rome, Italy, heading to Washington, D.C. Colonie. The plane, which had a group of high school students and their teachers on board, had to return to Rome. Families wait anxiously for their children to arrive in Albany Friday night.
“I love you, there’s something wrong with the plane.”
That was one of the first messages Luba Horton read in the morning. She and her daughter, Luba, said her daughter, Miranda, and her grandson, Luke, were flying home from Rome when they became even more concerned about the contents of the email.
“It started shaking really bad and that’s when they looked back over the ocean.”
“We all thought we were going to die.”
The plane landed safely in Rome about 30 minutes after takeoff. The children were looking forward to getting on the ground and getting off the plane. “Luke is excited right now because he might jump out the emergency exit,” Luba read from the message.
This trip had plane issues from the beginning. The first plane was delayed due to mechanical problems. “When they took off from Newark to Rome last Thursday, the plane was delayed because something in the vents needed to be fixed. So what’s going on with the plane? Do you feel that way?” Luva asked.
He safely got off the plane on his way home, where the engine had caught fire, and tried to board another plane, but he was also delayed. But this time it’s for a different reason. “A couple who were on the first plane to Washington also got on the plane, but then decided they didn’t want to get on the plane, so they had to take them off,” Horton said. Told.
United Airlines says safety is its top priority and it continues to do everything it can to keep its customers and employees safe. United Airlines said it was making arrangements to get the customer to their destination and was offering compensation.
Luva feels like that’s not enough, but she has other things to worry about. “Oh my god! When I see them, I just hug them so tight,” Horton said.
The children are leaving and are scheduled to arrive on a new plane shortly before midnight tonight.