A man who only gave his first name as Jamie told Sky News: "As you looked up you could just see the flames being chucked out of the engine ... It was on full fire when we saw it."
Both runways were shut at the West London airport where London Fire Brigade confirmed that they had attended to an "aircraft fire."
Clive Cook, who lives under the flight path, told Sky News: "The actual engine itself was on fire.
"This plane was coming over and suddenly the tone of the engine changed dramatically, and I could almost say it sounded as if it was like a blowout, or an explosion."
What happened is not thought to be terror related and all passengers are safe.
Sky News presenter Jeremy Thompson was on a different flight coming into Heathrow and said that the pilot told them that they were being held up by a "bird strike" on a plane.
A statement from British Airways said: "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault.
"The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 customers. The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed and we are currently caring for our customers.
"Emergency services attended the aircraft. We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident."
One picture shared on Twitter appears to show the engine that was not on fire exposed as it is overworked.
Commenting on the damage to the covering around that engine, aviation safety investigator, David Gleave, said: "It's not got much structural strength in it at all so it doesn't affect the ability of the aeroplane to actually hold onto its engine and keep it on the wing."
The plane has been towed off the northern runway which remains shut but the southern runway has reopened.
Travel expert Simon Calder said: "There is now massive disruption at Heathrow."
He added that British Airways planes coming into land have been diverted to Cardiff, Stansted and even Manston Airport in Kent.
The fire came at the start of one of the year's busiest travel periods as people head abroad for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Passengers at the airport have been told to expect delays of up to an hour.
Source: Sky News
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