Sparks coming from the engine of a plane prompted a pilot to abort takeoff and stop on a runway of Newark Liberty Airport, New Jersey late Sunday.
United Flight 5796 to Savannah, Ga., operated ExpressJet, was departing at around 10:30 p.m. ET when pilot was notified of sparks coming from the left hand engine, Port Authority officials told NBC News.
The aircraft was towed back to terminal A and the 41 passengers taken off. Only one opted not to board a new flight and no other services were delayed from the airport, officials said.
A spokesman for ExpressJet said: "Passengers have now departed on a different plane following an earlier mechanical issue with one of the original aircraft's engines. There was never any fire.
"Another aircraft reported seeing sparks from one of the plane's engines and out of an abundance of caution passengers were carried back to the terminal."
In an earlier, separate, incident a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Peru was forced to return to Los Angeles International Airport after smoke appeared in the cabin, officials told NBC Los Angeles.
A defective galley oven was responsible, they said, adding that LAN Airlines Flight 601, bound for Lima with 247 passengers aboard, made a safe landing.
