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A United Airlines flight needed to make a quick U-turn when it lost power in an engine ... and lit brush near the tarmac on fire.

UA Flight 803 took off from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Saturday around 12:20 PM ET ... when it "ignited some brush around the runway" as it was leaving the airport, a representative from Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told People .

Video from social media captured the burning brush shortly after Flight 803 took off for Japan ... and, it shows tendrils of smoke rising up from nearly the whole length of the runway.

According to the MWAA rep ... "The fire was extinguished and the flight returned to Dulles, landing safely at about 1:30 p.m. when it was checked by airport fire responders.”

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