Engine blowout forces Air France flight to divert to Newfoundland

This photo shows a damaged engine that forced an Air France flight to Los Angeles from Paris to divert to Newfoundland.  (Twitter/Rick Engebretsen)

An Air France flight bound for Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland, Canada Saturday afternoon after one of the aircraft's engines blew out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Passengers on the Airbus A380 tweeted pictures of the damaged engine, with one man saying he felt a "loud thud and a lot of vibration."

Another passenger tweeted the sardonic caption, "I think the engine has seen better days."

CBC News, citing air traffic control transmissions, reported that the plane landed in Goose Bay at around 1:40 p.m. local time and scattered debris across the runway. The runway was briefly closed while the debris was cleared.

In a statement, Air France praised the pilots and cabin crew on Flight 66 out of Paris' Charles de Gaulle Aiport, who they said "handled this serious incident perfectly." The statement added that the engine had suffered "serious damage," but declined to elaborate.

Air France said it was working to re-route the passengers on to Los Angeles.

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