# Flames on plane out of O'Hare **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136 "2007-03-16T02:42:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/1 "2007-03-16T02:42:17Z")
I live a few miles east of O’Hare. Just a few minutes ago I heard 4 or 5 odd booms. I look out of my apartment (facing south) and I saw a plane heading east with flames apparently from its near (left) engines! Nothing on the news yet. I have a Sony 2010 with air band scanner and I haven’t picked up anything unusual there either. Whatever happened, I hope the plane lands okay. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/2 "2007-03-16T02:46:02Z")
Could it have been military? That might explain the flames but not the booms. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/3 "2007-03-16T02:49:09Z")
This was definitely flames, not exhaust. I called the local news radio hotline, and they said they’ve already received reports. Still nothing broadcast on the station or the Chicago cable news station. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/4 "2007-03-16T02:52:42Z")
When I saw the plane, it seemed to be cruising okay and in control, not headed for the ground. Still, it’s the scariest thing I’ve seen since 9/11. Could that have been the jet equivalent of backfiring? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/5 "2007-03-16T03:06:46Z")
Zilch on the news so far, so obviously there wasn’t a crash. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/6 "2007-03-16T03:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Could that have been the jet equivalent of backfiring? [/QUOTE] IANA jet pilot. However, I’ve seen footage of FOD being ingested and what happens (from the outside) when a turbine blade breaks. In both cases flames briefly came out the rear of the engine. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/7 "2007-03-16T03:14:38Z")
Finally on the news: it was a 767 out of O’Hare, headed for Brazil. Plane still has one good engine and is heading back to O’Hare. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/8 "2007-03-16T05:14:15Z")
Here’s the story. The time is definitely wrong because, as I said, I posted just minutes after seeing the plane. There’s even amateur video, but it’s poor quality, apparently taken from a car, and all you see are the flames. [http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5127143](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5127143) > [@](#): > > March 15, 2007 - A United Airlines flight bound for Brazil returned to O’Hare International Airport late Thursday over fears that a bird had flown into an engine causing the engine to catch fire. Witnesses reported seeing flames and sparks coming from the left engine of the Boeing 767. > > United Airlines spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the captain turned the plane around shortly after its 9 p.m. take off as a precautionary measure. > > No one was injured in the incident, and the plane was safely back on the ground just after 10 p.m., she said. > > … > > The Sao Paulo-bound flight was canceled and the plane was inspected. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/9 "2007-03-16T13:53:09Z")
> [@](#): > > over fears that a bird had flown into an engine Yep. FOD. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/10 "2007-03-16T13:59:30Z")
I thought that “Ask the Pilot” had covered this in one of his Salon columns (I know I read it in his book). At any rate, he said there are instances in which flames do come out of a plane’s engine. While it can really freak passengers out, it’s normal. I guess if they thought that’s what this was, they wouldn’t have landed the plane again so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/11 "2007-03-16T15:26:03Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Yep. FOD. [/QUOTE] “Feathers Of Doom”? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/12 "2007-03-16T15:50:17Z")
[QUOTE=CrankyAsAnOldMan] I thought that “Ask the Pilot” had covered this in one of his Salon columns (I know I read it in his book). At any rate, he said there are instances in which flames do come out of a plane’s engine. While it can really freak passengers out, it’s normal. I guess if they thought that’s what this was, they wouldn’t have landed the plane again so quickly. [/QUOTE] [Compressor stall…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressor_stall) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/13 "2007-03-16T15:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] “Feathers Of Doom”? [/QUOTE] [Foreign Object Damage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_object_damage) (or Debris). When I was on the B-1 project someone had left a wrench on an intake. I didn’t get to see it go into the engine though. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/14 "2007-03-16T16:11:11Z")
I have had it with these motherfuckin’ flames on this motherfuckin plane. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flames-on-plane-out-of-ohare/396136/15 "2007-03-16T23:58:32Z")
About 10 years ago we had something similar with an A300 leaving SJU for MIA – snafu with some fuel line connectors had it returning to SJU with the port engine trailing a plume of flame. And the path/approach meant the whole thing had to happen over the middle of the SJ business district. It was some interesting video, but I’m sure the passengers did not appreciate the excitement…