I was a student pilot with approximately 20 hours. During one of my flights back to my home airport, I was talking to the tower and was given approach instructions. Then the frequency lit up with an emergency call, the pilot reporting engine failure. The airplane had lost its engine on takeoff and the pilot was trying to return to the airport.
All the tower’s traffic was put into a hold and I was instructed to make 360-degree turns over the Interstate highway, which was approximately five miles from the airport. I heard the pilot and passenger screaming over the radio in complete panic, and then I saw a large fireball and smoke near the airport.
