American Eagle Flight 5089, operated by PSA Airlines, returned to St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Saturday morning, October 17, roughly 15 minutes after takeoff, according to First Alert 4, KSDK and reports carried by AOL and People.

Passengers Tessa and Mark Springer of Waterloo, Illinois told First Alert 4 the trouble began on the ground with a loud buzzing, grinding sound from the rear of the plane.

Before departure, Mark recalled the pilot announcing there was a problem with the engine and that crews could not get it started.

After a delay of roughly two hours, the plane took off, and about 15 minutes in, Mark said it lunged forward like a car slamming its brakes, dropped, and the oxygen masks fell.

Multiple outlets report the cabin filled with haze or smoke as the flight turned back. According to First Alert 4, Tessa Springer texted her children, 'Problem on our plane, love you guys,' and recalled thinking 'we're going to die,' while the flight attendant shouted emergency orders.

Passengers told KSDK that they thought they might die as smoke appeared on the aircraft before the emergency landing.

The plane landed safely back at Lambert, and no injuries were reported, according to an airport spokesperson cited by AOL.

Passengers described an evacuation straight off the wing: First Alert 4 reports the Springers jumped from the wing with strangers catching each other on the way down, while KSDK, via NBC10 Philadelphia, quoted passenger Clancy saying 'We got out, and they just told us to run,' adding that 'you don't know if this plane is going to blow up.'

Tessa took photos while the group waited beside the runway for transportation back to the terminal. Both couples are home, grateful but badly shaken by the experience.

In statements quoted by NBC10 Philadelphia and carried by AOL, American Airlines described the event narrowly: American Eagle Flight 5089, operated by PSA Airlines, returned to St. Louis Lambert shortly after takeoff 'after a reported odor,' landed safely, and was pulled from service to be inspected by the maintenance team.

The airline apologized to customers and thanked its team members for their professionalism.

That framing sits uneasily with passengers' accounts: several told KSDK, in reporting picked up by NBC10 Philadelphia, that an engine problem had been announced before the plane ever left the gate, and they want to know what made the aircraft cleared to fly.

NBC10 Philadelphia reports the Springer and Clancy families both raised questions about how the situation was handled, with Tessa Springer asking at what point the plane was deemed checked and cleared for takeoff.

The frustration sharpened when Clancy told NBC10 Philadelphia that American's emailed apology included four $12 food vouchers, which she described as a slap in the face.

The aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection by American's maintenance team, the airline says, and no findings of what caused the odor or the in-flight trouble have been publicly released.

Mark Springer told First Alert 4 that he does not think he will ever be able to get on another airplane again, a sentiment that captures why the story has spread so widely.

For travelers, the episode lands amid a tense week for air-travel confidence — the same weekend Simple Flying reported United CEO Scott Kirby saying his firing from American a decade ago made him a better CEO — and it puts a fresh spotlight on regional-carrier maintenance decisions before departure.