Horrified plane passengers watched flames pouring from an engine that caught fire shortly after take-off - forcing an emergency landing minutes later.

The Boeing 737 operated by Malaysia Airlines had taken off from Hyderabad, India, shortly after midnight at 00:15 today when the issue caused panic among the 138 passengers onboard.

Footage taken from a window just behind the wing shows a long trail of orange sparks and flames emerging from the CFM International jet engine.

Flight MH199 landed back at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 00:45. Fire engines and ambulances were waiting alongside the runway.

A Malaysia Airlines spokesman later confirmed that all passengers and crew landed safely back at the airport. They are now investigating the incident.

They said: ‘Affected passengers will be reallocated to other flights for their continued journey.

‘The aircraft is currently on the ground for further inspection.'

Flight data shows the aircraft involved, which has the registration 9M-MXU, is a Boeing 737-800.

The Boeing 737 family of of jets has been involved in a series of accidents in recent years.