Passengers on board a Delta Air Lines flight in the US have recalled the frightening moments when an engine malfunction forced their plane to make an emergency landing.

Video shot by a passenger showed what appeared to be a nose cone loose inside one of the engines.

Witnesses say there was a loud bang and the cabin filled with smoke.

Delta Flight 1425, travelling from Atlanta to Baltimore with 154 people, landed safely in North Carolina.

No injuries were reported. In a statement, Delta said there had been a contained failure in one of the engines, ABC News reported.

'FREAKING OUT'

"The flight crew of Delta Flight 1425 from Atlanta to Baltimore elected to divert to Raleigh, NC, out of an abundance of caution after receiving an indication of a possible issue with one of the aircraft's engines," a spokesperson told US media.

Passenger Logan Webb posted the video on social media showing a metal part moving around inside the engine with an orange glow behind it.

Another passenger, Avery Porch, heard "a boom" about an hour into the flight and smoke began to fill the cabin, she told WMAR-TV.

"That's when we really started freaking out. It [the plane] started slowing down a bit [and] the air cut off," she said.

Her boyfriend, Tyler Kreuger, said that, fearing the worst, he had texted "I love you" to his parents.

The captain announced the plane had lost an engine and preparations were being made for an emergency landing, passenger Jose Bahamonde-Gonzalez told WMAR-TV.

The video shot inside the cabin recorded flight attendants telling passengers to brace for the landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The plane involved was a 32-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-88, ABC reports.