Eyewitnesses in the air and on the ground said they watched in horror and shock as parts of a jet engine exploded and broke off just after Denver took off, spilling debris over homes.
Although there were no reports of injuries or deaths during Saturday’s incident in Broomfield, Colorado, residents and passengers told ABC News that they are still upset.
“It was more like, ‘Hey, is everything going to be okay?’ This is not normal, “Brett Guy, who was a passenger aboard United flight 328, told ABC News.” I didn’t know what to think. “
The Boeing 777-200’s right engine failed shortly after takeoff, around 1 pm on Saturday, for a flight from Denver to Honolulu, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Parts of the engine started to come loose when it was engulfed in flames and the debris fell into the air.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday night that, based on its initial investigation, the intake and fairing separated from the engine and two fan blades were broken.
A portion of one of the blades was embedded in the retaining ring and some of the fan blades exhibited damage to the leading edges and edges, according to the NTSB.
Guy said he and other passengers heard the crash and saw the engine break from their windows.
“The plane was shaking a lot,” he recalled. “It didn’t stop and no one really knew. And then, you looked out the window.”
Tyler Thal, a resident of Broomfield, told ABC News that he was walking with his family that afternoon when the engine exploded. Thal said that he and his family were scared after hearing the explosion and seeing the flash of light.
He became more concerned with passengers when he saw the jet continue to fly with the engine on fire.
“It’s nothing like everything we’ve seen. So it was fear for my daughter, my wife and me [was] just worried, knowing that that plane is full of people “, said Thal.
Thal said he hoped the plane could fly safely with the remaining engine.
Guy also had a similar thought while in his seat on the plane, after recalling a moment from Tom Cruise’s 1986 film “Top Gun”.
“There’s the part where it’s like, engine one is broken. And then he’s like, ‘I’m hanging up,’ ”he recalled. “And for some reason, in my head, I was thinking, ‘We’re fine with an engine, but this is kind of confusing.'”
The plane returned to Denver International Airport and all 231 passengers and 10 crew members left without any serious injuries, according to the FAA.
The wreckage of the engine, however, did enormous damage to the houses and streets below. Large parts of the plane, including metal covers, fell on roofs, sidewalks and trees.
Kirby Klements told ABC News that he was at his home with his wife when they heard the explosion boom. They ran to the front window and saw a giant, circular piece of the engine going right past them.
“The bonnet ended up hanging right here on the branch of my tree,” he said. “He got out and landed right in the back of my truck in the corner of my garage. He fell, landed and ended up right there with my wife and I sitting right inside, thinking, ‘What is this?'”
Klements said the damage was very frightening.
“If anyone were there, they would be seriously injured or killed,” he said. “I mean … the whole top of the truck is on the side of the truck’s cab.”
Klements said he and his wife heard from the news that the plane was making a safe landing and that, until this afternoon, the wreckage was still on his property.
“It was fortunate that no one on the ground was hurt by the various large pieces that hit the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s a good thing that nobody on the plane was hurt or anything.”
The wreckage remains scattered throughout the city while the FAA and NTSB assess the damage and investigate the incident.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson issued an emergency airworthiness directive on Sunday that would require immediate or intensified inspections of Boeing 777 planes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
“It will probably mean that some planes will be taken out of service,” Dickson said in a statement.
Shortly after the FAA issued its directive, United announced that it would temporarily remove 24 Boeing 777 aircraft powered by these engines from its schedule.
“Since yesterday, we have been in contact with NTSB and FAA regulators and will continue to work closely with them to determine any additional steps necessary to ensure that these aircraft meet our stringent safety standards and are able to return to service,” company airline said in a statement. “As we switch aircraft, we expect only a small number of customers to be disturbed.”
A person familiar with the situation told ABC News that this particular engine has a unique design. The blade itself is hollow titanium and the source compared it to a chocolate Easter bunny.
Tom Haueter, a consultant for ABC News and a former NTSB director of the Office of Aviation Safety, called the engine fan blades “critical” to the investigation.
“What the NTSB wants to see is whether there is any evidence of a pre-existing problem with that engine, with that fan blade,” he told ABC News.
Roger K. Lee of ABC News contributed to this report.