FedEx Aircraft Erupts In Fire Mid-Air, Makes Emergency Landing

On March 1, a FedEx aircraft caught fire just moments after it took off from the ground.

The Boeing 767-300 had just left Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to flight data from FlightAware. Its final destination has not yet been determined.

The plane was scheduled to leave at 7:58am on Saturday morning and as it headed into the sky, its right engine burst into flames — described as a loud boom by witnesses — where pilots were forced to make a U-turn back to Newark to make an emergency landing at 8:07am.

A FedEx aircraft burst into flames just minutes after it took off from New Jersey

Image credits: Nick Morales/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

Videos are now circulating on X, going viral on many social media platforms. In the clips uploaded, viewers can hear people swearing in disbelief as it was in the air and on the tarmac.

Additionally, a person managed to capture the terrifying moment while seated in their car, zooming the video in as the engine caught on fire.

According to Daily Mail, the FAA, Newark Airport, and FedEx have not responded to any comment nor disclosed any more information, however, some users on social media have claimed that they were told the accident was “caused by birds entering” the plane’s engine.

Image credits: TheRebelPatient

BREAKING: After a possible bird hit, the FedEx B767 #FDX3609 safely lands on Runway 22L at Newark Liberty International Airport (#EWR) in New Jersey. In flight and through landing, its right engine was on fire. Emergency services dispatched to its ground arrival and are on the… pic.twitter.com/OVOH7nkJQQ

— ✝️ Dr Margaret Aranda Ferrante, MD PhD FACFEI ♿️ (@TheRebelPatient) March 1, 2025

What happened this morning only adds to the latest string of aircraft incidents we’ve seen in 2025, the deadliest being the mid-air collision that happened on the evening of January 29 when an American Airlines commercial plane and Black Hawk helicopter collided in mid-air.

The two aircrafts plunged into the Potomac River, right outside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Unfortunately, all 67 onboard were killed — marking it was one of America’s deadliest aviation disasters.

And, on February 23, an American airlines flight, that was flying to Delhi, India from the JFK Airport in New York, was forced to make a sudden landing in Rome, Italy due to whispers of a bomb threat.

Videos circulating on X captured the moment its right engine caught on fire

Image credits: airmainengineer

Just now @FedEx plane on fire after take-off from EWR New Jersey.
Updates will be shared.
📸 by @sofianezmln22@AirNavRadar@FlightEmergencypic.twitter.com/CdOPvQqCdk

— aircraftmaintenancengineer (@airmainengineer) March 1, 2025

Three months into the year, and reports have shown the most frequently searched question on Google has been: Is flying still safe?

The short answer — Yes. According to multiple experts, these worries are more than valid but planes are still the safest mode of transportation invented.

“Although these incidents have occurred, there is a track record of several dozen years of safe aviation,” stated Rep. Darius Kila, the chair of the House Committee on Transportation.

They concluded, “One incident is one too many, and to see several, not just in a period of five months but several days, I think folks have the right to feel concerned.”

Image credits: airmainengineer 

🚨🚨 You can see landing of FedEx Flight FDX3609 at Newark on takeoff, returned back. We were told it was caused by birds entering rh engine.
📸 by @KProcrastinatorpic.twitter.com/XR1hhEQ6sy

— aircraftmaintenancengineer (@airmainengineer) March 1, 2025

Many airlines have reiterated that a passenger’s safety and comfort during a flight has, and will always remain, their number one priority.

A study conducted by those in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2024 found that the risk of fatality from commercial air travel is quite low, sitting at 1 per every 13.7 million passenger boardings globally between 2018 and 2022.

The odds of dying in a plane crash are around 1 in 11 million for the average American, which is much lower than the risk of dying in a car crash, which is about 1 in 5,000.

The aviation incidents in 2025 have caused many concerns to arise

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