A couple on board an American Airlines flight that had to make an emergency landing about 15 minutes after takeoff feared they wouldn't make it home to their kids.

Tessa and Mark Springer, a couple from Waterloo, Illinois, were flying from St. Louis to Pennsylvania for work.

Their flight took off Saturday morning from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, but trouble started before the plane even left the ground."We heard just this really horrible noise coming from the back of the plane. It was like... real loud buzzing, kind of grinding sound," Mark Springer said.