911 Tapes Released In Southwest Emergency Landing

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A plane makes an emergency landing at BWI after hitting a bird.

Tracey Leong has the 911 calls of panic from witnesses below.

The airborne scare happened December 12. It landed safely, but--for those on board the flight as well as people on the ground--they say it was a frightening ordeal.

"An airplane just went over the top of my house, heading toward Gibson Island. She's going down; she's on fire," said a caller.

Frantic calls poured in after a flock of birds collided with Flight 3118.

"One of the motors was completely on fire," a caller said. "It sounded like fireworks going off."

"You could tell that something was wrong, and then you felt the vibration. You could see the flames outside the window," said passenger David Rabe.

For Rabe, it was the last thing he expected flying home.

The bird strike caused an emergency landing at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The panic in the sky had some passengers scared they weren't going to make it.

"Very frightening on the inside. You're wondering--things go through your head--are we going to go down? This is the first thing through my mind: Southwest has never had an accident and this is going to be the first one and I happen to be on the plane for the first accident," said passenger Michael Lee.

Lee and his wife Valerie were visiting Baltimore for a few days. They say it's an experience that still has them shaking.

"You have no control once it happens. You could die in an instant," he said.

The passengers are thankful for their flight crew, who stayed calm throughout, all while avoiding a disaster.

"There was a big applause. All the passengers were clapping, real happy," Lee said.

There were 142 passengers on board the flight that was heading from San Antonio. Crews from BWI and Anne Arundel Fire Department assisted when the plane landed.

The plane has been taken out of service. Some passengers continued on to Detroit and were offered another flight.

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