Plane passenger films viral video showing dramatic engine fault in mid-air

The horrifying moment was captured on camera. Photo / Viralhog

A US woman has filmed the moment one of the engines on her Delta Air Lines flight suffered a catastrophic failure.

Rebecca Needham was on board the flight, from Atlanta to Baltimore, which was under way for an hour before the dramatic incident in which a piece of the engine is believed to have come loose and caused the engine to fail.

Needham said: "We're not sure why the plane malfunctioned or what the cause was. They did say that the plane will now be retired."

A Delta Air Lines official stated: "The flight crew of Delta flight 1425 from Atlanta to Baltimore elected to divert to Raleigh, N.C. out of an abundance of caution after receiving an indication of an issue with one of the aircraft's engines.

"The flight landed without incident and customers were reaccommodated on an alternate aircraft. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience this diversion may have caused."

Passengers on the flight were less sanguine however, with some taking to Twitter after their experience.

The aircraft involved in the engine failure incident yesterday was an MD-88, a plane currently being phased out by airlines across the world.