An American airline Boeing 737 was hit by a flock of geese, which caused the engine to catch fire mid-flight before the pilot successfully performed an emergency landing at an Ohio airport.

On Sunday, the mishap was said to have happened 40 minutes after takeoff.

According to Mail Online, passengers Ryan Brink and Marni Kallestad caught the incident on camera as flames burst out of the engine.

The American Airlines flight 1958 to Phoenix, Arizona took off from John Glenn Columbus International Airport at 7:43am, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flights nationally, but landed back at the airport at 8:22am.

Witnesses on the scene said it was struck by a flock of geese as it took off, causing flames to shoot from the engine and create ‘wonky, pulsing noises.’

Meanwhile, in a corrected tweet, the airport made a U-turn, and said it was a mechanical issue and not an engine fire.

“Correction to our earlier tweet: the aircraft experienced mechanical issues, not an engine fire. Thank you to our emergency crews for their quick response,” it posted.