Airplane debris rains in Denver area neighborhood before United flight lands safely | Denver Gazette

Airplane debris rains in Denver area neighborhood before United flight lands safely | Denver Gazette

by

An engine failure on board a commercial flight from Denver International Airport rained debris on a Broomfield neighborhood before the plane and its 231 passengers and 10 crew members landed safely on Saturday afternoon.

Airport officials say United Airlines flight 328, which left at 12:15 pm, was bound for Honolulu when the incident occurred.

Broomfield police received a call about wreckage falling from the sky at 1:09 pm, officials said. The plane returned safely to the airport at 1:30 pm.

David Delucia, a passenger on the plane, remembered a loud and loud explosion from the cabin, a bright flash and 20 minutes of terror before they landed.

RELATED:

Video of airplane explosion and engine wreckage

“The plane started to shake violently, we lost altitude and started to descend,” Delucia told the Associated Press.

Delucia said he and his wife had put their driver’s licenses – which contained driver’s licenses – in their pockets so they could be more easily identified if the plane crashed.






Emergency landing plane debris

A piece of wreckage from a commercial plane is marked by police tape where it landed along Midway Boulevard in Broomfield, Colorado, as the plane lost parts during an emergency landing at the nearby Denver International Airport on Saturday, February 20, 2021.




“I thought we were finished,” said Delucia, who was sitting across the aisle from the burned-out engine. “I thought we were going to fall.”

On the ground, parts of the twin-engine Boeing 777-200 aircraft, including parts of the hood of a jet engine, landed near homes northwest of Denver. At least one house was directly hit by rubble.

Maryann Klements and her husband, Kirby, were sitting in their living room, enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon, when a “supersonic” crash shook the entire house.

“I can’t even try to describe how tall it was, but I looked at my husband and said ‘what the hell was that about?'” Said Maryann Klements.

“A few moments later, we went out and saw a big round thing in our yard and went into complete shock.”

The wreckage only damaged the truck and a section of siding and gutters. But they knew it could have been much worse.

“If it had been 3 meters different, it would have landed right on top of the house,” Kirby Klements told the Associated Press.

“Things could have ended very differently, but I am very grateful that everyone seems to be safe,” said Maryann.

The Federal Aviation Administration told news partner 9News that the aircraft’s right engine failed shortly after takeoff. It was unclear what caused the engine failure or why the problem caused parts of the jet’s housing to separate from the plane.

In the past, this was an indication of a turbine failure, which could launch parts of the jet engine by firing through the housing at high speed.

Neighbors also reported sounds of an explosion, which would be consistent with an uncontrolled failure of the turbine.

The crawl at www.flightaware.com shows that the jet took off and circled the field before landing.

A video posted on Twitter by witnesses on the ground showed an apparent explosion before the wreckage fell.

Authorities said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the engine failure.

“If you find debris, PLEASE don’t touch or move it,” tweeted the Broomfield police. “THE @NTSB he wants all the wreckage to remain in place for investigation. “

Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240

Twitter: @xroederx

.Source