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A United Boeing 757 like the one that blew an engine on take-off from Newark Airport Saturday night...

It wasn't quite this wild of a ride, but passengers on United Flight 96 out of Newark Sauturday night bound for Berlin got quite a scare.

Initial reports indicate, a tire on the plane's landing gear blew on takeoff and debris was sucked through one of the engines, passers-by on the NJ Turnpike described it to the Newark Star Ledger, "as flames shooting out from under the wings."

"We looked a little closer and there were fireballs coming out from under one of the wings. We heard a popping sound coming from the engine. It was a pretty scary sight, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life," said Keisha Thomas.

The pilots never lost their cool. Operating down an engine, in a plane that could not dump its full fuel load, they circled over central New Jersey at 4,000 feet for more than two hours to burn off excess jetfuel.

It had to be one scary ride. Emergency trucks lined the runway for the plane's return. Fortunately, it landed safely and no one was hurt.

Read the transcript of the pilot's conversation with air traffic control here.

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