Metal that rained down in Dearborn Heights was Spirit plane with engine failure

(WJBK) - Just five minutes after take-off on a spirit flight from Detroit to Atlanta, passenger Jeff Luke was terrified.

"I thought we were going to die," he said. "I texted my son, said 'I love you, I'm proud of you.' People were holding hands, praying, getting out of hand with their emotions, but you can't blame them."

Jeff Luke describes it as driving over the roughest rumble strips imaginable - only hundreds of feet in the air.

"The plane was shaking and bobbing and a couple compartment doors came down," Luke said. "It was scary."

A minute or two later the captain came on the overhead speaker.

"(He said) 'We are going to circle back to Metro Airport. We have to land, issues with engine number 2," Luke said.

Issues you first heard about on FOX 2 Tuesday night, when half a dozen reports of hot shards of metal rained down on a section of Dearborn Heights.
 
The Federal Aviation Administration told people on the ground it is likely a blown apart turbine engine.  Meanwhile in the sky, the captain guided the damaged plane back in for landing.

"Once we got straightened out, everyone was cheering and clapping and praising God," Luke said.

There were no reports of injuries on the ground - or in the air.

"They did a good job," Luke said. "The flight attendants went above and beyond the call of duty and the captain got us in on one engine."

FOX 2 spoke with an FAA spokesperson who confirmed the Spirit Airlines flight heading to Atlanta had engine failure and the cause remains under investigation.

However despite claims made by victims of falling debris that the FAA will pay for damage, they say those are false and the victims either need to take it up with their insurance provider or Spirit Airlines.