Flight 1760, a Boeing 737-800 bound for Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, lifted off at 8:11 a.m. on Aug. 10 local time and was back on the ground 27 minutes later, according to FlightAware tracking data reported by People.

None of the 172 passengers and nine crew members was injured.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. We've got a engine problem here," the pilot told controllers in audio captured by LiveATC.net and reported by CNN.

A second pilot who watched the departure radioed that the aircraft appeared to have taken birds into at least its left engine.

"In the middle of the runway, everybody heard a big bang," passenger John Richter told CBS News.

Another passenger told ABC News the sound was loud enough that she asked her husband to cover their daughter's ears.

Patrick Gotwalt, seated near the wing, filmed bursts of flame from the engine as the jet climbed out over the water, footage in which a voice says the engine is "backfiring like crazy," Fox News reported.

From the beach below, Lindsey Mackey told CNN she heard several loud pops before orange flashes appeared under the left wing.

The crew leveled off, flew out over the Atlantic and turned back.

Myrtle Beach International Airport said the crew described possible smoke from an engine around 8:15 a.m. and that emergency units were dispatched to designated staging areas as a precaution, according to a statement reported by The Post and Courier.

The plane landed a few minutes later and taxied to its gate, where passengers deplaned normally with no disruption to other flights, the airport said.

American Airlines planes at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, Aug. 5. Photo by AFP

Operations workers inspected the runway while the jet circled and found bird remains. A worker was heard on the air traffic control frequency saying a significant number of birds were being cleared, Fox News reported.

American Airlines told CNN the aircraft landed safely and had been pulled from service for inspection by its maintenance team, and passengers reached Charlotte on a replacement aircraft.

The airline's statement described the return as a maintenance issue and did not mention birds or flames.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported striking a bird while departing and that it will investigate. An initial review found no indication of fire inside the engine, People reported.

Bird remains recovered from strikes are often sent to a Smithsonian Institution laboratory in Washington, D.C., where they are analyzed to identify the species involved, according to the FAA.

Nearly 8,300 animal strikes have been reported in the U.S. so far this year, and birds historically account for roughly 97% of them, the agency told CBS News.

More than 24,000 wildlife strikes were logged nationally in 2025, a 9.3% increase over 2024, according to an FAA report.

Mourning doves are the most commonly struck species at about 11% of incidents, while waterfowl account for only 4% of bird strikes but 27% of those that damage aircraft. About 54% of strikes fall between July and October, when fledglings leave the nest and fall migration begins.