Terror on Board as Passenger Plane Drops 30,000ft After Engine Explodes

Terrified passengers on a flight from Paris to Ajaccio were left fearing for their lives after their jet’s engine exploded mid-air, causing the plane to plummet nearly 30,000 feet in just minutes, according to reports.

The nightmare began just 30 minutes into the flight, when passengers on Air France flight AF 7721 heard a loud bang and saw flames coming from the aircraft’s left wing. Christelle, a passenger traveling with her daughter, told RTL that the fire was “in flames” and that the plane seemed to “plummet” as panic spread among the passengers.

“The buttons, everything was lighting up, everything was flashing. There was a man who grabbed his children because they thought we were going to crash,” she said. Another passenger, Joelle, described the scene as terrifying, saying she thought they were “going to be smashed to pieces.” She even called her daughter in panic, telling her, “I’m going to die, I’m going to die,” according to Le Parisien.

Flight tracking data from FlightRadar reveals that the aircraft descended rapidly, dropping from around 34,000 feet to 5,000 feet in just ten minutes. Passengers were told by the captain that the plane’s left engine had “stopped working mid-flight,” although Air France later described it as an “engine failure.”

Industry experts explained that the issue was likely an “engine surge,” where air pockets cause vibrations within the engine, forcing the crew to shut it down. The decision was made to divert the flight to Lyon for an emergency landing, and passengers were informed that the maneuver was in line with standard safety protocols.

The plane landed safely in Lyon, but not without a tense moment. According to experts, the plane landed with just one working engine, which is not ideal but still within the capacity of the aircraft. “The landing in Lyon went normally on a single engine,” one industry source stated.

After landing in Lyon, passengers were put on a replacement flight to Bastia and then bused to Ajaccio, arriving at 3 a.m. Despite the safe landing, the experience has left passengers shaken, with Joelle saying her 8-year-old granddaughter spent the night “terrified,” crying, and waking up from nightmares. Joelle has since announced plans to file a complaint against Air France.

Though the incident was alarming, aviation experts have reassured that the aircraft, an Airbus A320 with CFM56 engines, is one of the most reliable in the world. They also stated that while flames may have appeared on the nozzle of the engine, the engine itself was not on fire, and there were no fire alarms triggered.

Despite the safety protocols in place, the experience left passengers deeply unsettled, and many are still processing the traumatic event.