The pilot of a United Airlines commercial jet called “mayday, mayday” because the aircraft had an engine failure shortly after taking off from Denver International Airport on Saturday, according to new audio.
The Boeing 777 was flying from Denver to Honolulu with 231 passengers and 10 crew members on board when its right engine failed and burst into flames. The plane lost altitude quickly and dropped huge chunks of the engine frame and bits of fiberglass into the neighborhood below.
UNITED FLIGHT ENGINE HITS FIRE AFTER DENVER TAKES OFF, RETURNS TO THE AIRPORT SAFELY
“328, uh, heavy. We had an engine failure, we need to turn. Mayday, mayday. United, uh, 28, United 328, heavy. Mayday, mayday, aircraft, uh …” the pilot says in a 35-second recording of audio obtained by the Denver Post.
The Denver Tower replies, “Yes, 328 heavy, say it again, read it all over again.”
“Denver, uh, departure. United 328, heavy,” says the pilot of flight 328. “Mayday, aircraft, uh, just went through an engine failure, I need to turn immediately.”
The plane landed safely back at the airport and no injuries were reported on the ground where the debris fell.
Much of the wreckage fell in Commons Park and in the Northmoor and Red Leaf neighborhoods of Broomfield, which is about 20 miles north of downtown Denver.
Debris from a Boeing 777 commercial jet landed in front of a house near Broomfield, about 20 miles north of downtown Denver, after the engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff.
(Broomfield Police Department)
Tyler Thal, who lives in the area, told the Associated Press that he was walking with his family when he spotted a large commercial plane flying exceptionally low and picked up his phone to film it.
“As I looked at it, I saw an explosion and then a cloud of smoke and some falling debris,” he said in a telephone interview. “It was like a speck in the sky and, as I watch, I’m telling my family what I just saw and then we heard the explosion. The plane went on and we didn’t see it after that.”
It was not clear what caused the aircraft’s engine # 2 to malfunction.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and has asked Coloradans not to touch the rubble if they find pieces of the plane in their neighborhoods.
Paul Best of Fox News contributed to this report.