ORLANDO, Fla. – An Allegiant Air flight aborted its takeoff from Orlando Sanford International Airport on Thursday after one of the plane's engines failed and broke into pieces. airline officials said.
No one aboard Allegiant Air flight 662 was injured in the incident, which occurred around 5 p.m.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the MD-83, headed to Kentucky, was rolling down the runway, when the left engine failed. The airline told Local 6 that the engine broke into pieces and debris scattered across the runway.
An official said crews spent an hour cleaning the debris, causing the airport to shut down the runway and divert some flights to another landing strip.
The plane was able to taxi back to the gate without any more injuries, and all the passengers were placed on another flight.
The airline is planning on going through the aircraft, top to bottom, to find out what went wrong.
It's not known what exactly was heard or felt on the plane when the engine failed.