US probes Airbus engine failure aboard Spirit flight

US regulators have opened an investigation of an Airbus engine failure aboard a Spirit Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Texas Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in a statement Thursday, said it was investigating the engine failure aboard the Spirit Airlines Airbus A319, which was flying from Dallas, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia.

According to press reports, the Spirit Airlines aircraft, with 145 passengers aboard, was forced to make an emergency landing after an engine exploded and flames engulfed one side of the plane, filling the cabin with smoke.

The NTSB said one of their investigators was at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and was inspecting and documenting the engine, an International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500.

The engine was removed from the airplane and "as a result of the initial inspection, it was determined that the engine failure was contained, meaning it did not penetrate the engine casing," the Washington-based agency said in a statement on its website.

The engine would undergo a detailed examination and disassembly, said the agency, which is joined by the engine maker and the airline in the investigation.

The NTSB said it had secured the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from Spirit Flight 165, and the equipment would be brought back to Washington for readout and analysis.

The NTSB statement came on the same day that the federal government reopened, after Congress agreed to budget deal that ended a 16-day partial government shutdown.