DENVER (KDVR) Passengers on board and witnesses on the ground are recalling the scary events after a plane made an emergency landing at the Denver International Airport.

A United Airlines flight that took off from DIA at around 7:08 p.m. Sunday en route to Edmonton International Airport in Alberta, Canada, made an emergency landing back at DIA about 75 minutes later. A United Airlines spokesperson told FOX31 that the plane turned around to address a possible wildlife strike. 

“Everything was normal. We boarded the plane in Denver, they did all their pre-check flight check stuff and they taxied us out into the start of the runway. They proceeded to get to speed and as soon as they rotated, there was a loud bang on the right-hand side of the plane, like a gunshot going off beside us, and then a massive vibration in the plane,” said passenger Scott Wolff.

In several videos obtained by affiliate KDVR, an orange glow could be seen reflecting inside the plane’s cabin.

“We were airborne and on the right side of the plane was this rhythmic ‘bang bang’ and a whirl and a ‘bang bang’ and it would keep going on and on. It was the same thing over and over,” said Wolff. “It was like fireballs coming out the back of the engine.”

On the ground in Commerce City, witness Wyatt McCurry saw the plane, capturing it on video.

“I kind of just heard an absurd noise that I didn’t know if it was gunshots going out or a car backfiring, it sounded a little odd. I looked in the air and there was a plane flying kind of low in the sky. It was just shooting flames out the right motor of the turbine of the plane,” said McCurry. “There’s plane flying over us all the time. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It was just insane to see.”

United confirmed the plane was a Boeing 737-800 that had 153 passengers on board and six crew members. No one was injured.

“I put the phone away from the video and started texting my kid, my wife, my mom and just saying what you have to say. Everybody was doing the same thing for the next 30-45 minutes as we were safely going around the airport waiting to land, everybody was still shook up by the whole event,” said Wolff. “You say your goodbyes, you say your ‘I love yous’ and such. You look forward to seeing them, hearing from them again after this whole thing is over.”

Wolff was able to get on another flight back to Alberta.

“You’ve got to get right back on the bike if you fall off. Yes, a lot of people were a little cautious about flying again but you can see that a lot of people braved it and did it all over again,” said Wolff. “Everybody was ecstatic. As soon as those wheels touched the ground and that plane came to a complete stop, it was a big sense of relief on everybody in there.”