Peaky Blinders’ Matthew Postlethwaite Recalls Terrifying Moment When Plane Engine ‘Exploded’

Actor Matthew Postlethwaite is recalling the scary moment when he was on a plane and the engine exploded.

Postlethwaite, who appeared in the BBC crime series Peaky Blinders, shared his experience via Instagram Stories on Monday, July 14, revealing that he was aboard an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis where things took a terrifying turn.

“Ten minutes after takeoff, one of the plane’s engines caught on fire and exploded,” the 33-year-old wrote. “I can only describe it as sounding like a bomb went off. I’ve flown many times in my life and I can’t ever recall being scared — let alone thinking I was going to die. It’s interesting who you text when that happens. Dramatic, I know — but very real.”

Postlethwaite said that he and his wife, Erika Young, had been headed to the Twin Cities for a meeting with Target about his protein soda brand. The couple’s Sun Country Airlines flight departed Los Angeles International Airport after midnight Monday, according to CBS News. Following the engine incident, the crew declared an emergency and circled back to LAX for a safe landing. 

“I don’t understand how ‘they’ can let aircraft’s fly that clearly aren’t okay — I literally remember saying to Erika, ‘It sounds like a lawn mower,’” Postlethwaite said in his Story. “I will not be going on any planes that sound like lawn mowers again.”

Speaking to CBS, Minnesota resident Kang Hu recalled being on the flight with his wife and two daughters. 

“I was watching outside. It was peaceful. It’s dark out, and it’s peaceful, you know. And then suddenly a fireball and a shake,” Hu told the outlet, remembering how the pilot “made that big U-turn. You can feel that U-turn.”

When the plane landed, “I literally approached the crew, the captain when we were at the gate,” He said. “I told them, ‘you guys are heroes.’”

A Sun Country spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News on Monday that the airline’s “passengers and crew are our priority, and we appreciate the professionalism of our pilots and flight attendants to ensure the safety of our customers. We thank our passengers for their patience and have scheduled another aircraft to return passengers to [Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport] today.”

The engine emergency is the latest to make headlines. In January, four people were injured after an engine issue forced a Minnesota-bound Boeing 757-300 to make an emergency evacuation at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The following month, a Delta Airlines plane flipped upside down while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport — miraculously, all 80 passengers and crew survived.