Terrifying moment plane's engine bursts into flames above beach packed with tourists

This is the terrifying moment flames come out of a plane after a bird flew into one of the engines above a beach packed with tourists.

Footage filmed from the ground shows flames shooting out of the aircraft shortly after takeoff.

The incident took place on Avianca airline’s AV9377 flight from San Andrés Island to Bogotá in Colombia on April 25.

The aircraft was forced to return to the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés, situated in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Nicaragua but part of Colombia.

The Airbus A 320-214 completed a successful emergency landing after the incident.

Flames were seen coming out of a plane engine (Jam Press Vid)

Avianca issued a statement on the same day, highlighting the actions of pilots Andres Dallimonti and Felipe Torres.

The airline said the flight landed in San Andrés at 3.10pm local time and all 184 passengers onboard were unharmed.

Airport staff relocated the passengers on another flight to Bogotá that departed at 8.30pm.

Avianca's chief operating officer Federico Pedreira praised the pilots for safely returning to the airport following the bird strike.

The incident happened after takeoff (Jam Press Vid)

The plane was hit by a bird, the airline said (Jam Press Vid)

He added: "There is a need to take action against the presence of birds at airports, their vicinity, and approach and departure trajectories.

"The safety of our clients and crews is not negotiable."

Over the weekend, an American Airlines Boeing 737 flight was forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by a flock of geese in Ohio.

Horrified passengers looked out the window to discover flames shooting from the engine just 40 minutes into the flight to Phoenix, Arizona, US.

One of the engines was damaged when the plane was hit by a bird (Jam Press)

Passengers were not harmed in the accident (Jam Press Vid)

Some said it sounded as though "the engines were about to give up" with "wonky pulsing noises" heard onboard.

The flight left John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio at around 7.43am on Sunday, according to flight trackers.

Faced with a possible mid-air catastrophe, the pilot then informed passengers they would be returning to the airport in an emergency landing.

Terrifying scenes show the engine on fire mid-air (Marni Kallestad /TMX / SWNS)

The engine caught fire minutes after takeoff (Marni Kallestad /TMX / SWNS)

John Glenn International Airport posted on Twitter: "Emergency crews responded to an aircraft incident at CMH this morning involving a reported engine fire.

"The aircraft landed safely and the airport is open and operational. The aircraft experienced mechanical issues, not an engine fire."

Passengers were back on the ground at 8.22am after pilots safely navigated the plane back to where they started.

The airport was shut for a couple of minutes as the fire was extinguished.