A United Airlines flight suffered an engine failure after taking off from Denver International Airport on Saturday, but landed safely after throwing debris over northern Colorado, officials said.
The jet bound for Hawaii was a Boeing 777 with 10 crew and 231 passengers on board, according to reports.
Scary video recorded from inside the plane showed the damaged engine on fire.
“When it first happened, I thought we were done. I thought we were going to fall,” passenger David Delucia, who was traveling with his wife, told the Associated Press.
After hearing an explosion and seeing a flash of light, Delucia said he quickly stuffed his wallet in his pocket, thinking it would help respondents to identify his body more easily if he did not survive, he told the AP.
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.
Miraculously, no injuries were reported on board the aircraft or on the ground.
The damaged engine caused the plane to lose altitude, with a trail of black smoke visible to people on the ground, the AP reported.
A large circular piece of the plane crashed near a house in Broomfield, Colorado.
(Broomfield Police Department)
(Broomfield Police Department)
The wreckage also fell near a dog park and onto a lawn in a Broomfield park.
(Broomfield Police Department)
ALABAMA MILITARY AIRPLANE LOW 2 DEAD
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.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC that he will work with the NTSB to investigate the engine failure to “understand all the lessons learned in a way that maximizes the sense of security every time we board a plane”.
“America’s reputation for excellent air safety is not something that just happened,” Buttigieg told MSNBC. “It happened because of tight regulation to understand whenever an incident happens, why it happens and to ensure that we have the highest standards in this country.”
Denver KUSA-TV acquired a video showing passengers cheering as the plane lands safely at Denver International Airport.
Colorado resident Clare Armstrong told Fox News that he was at Broomfield Commons Dog Park when he heard a loud bang in the sky and saw debris starting to fall in the area.
She and others in the canine park managed to take shelter safely.
Broomfield Police said they are “beyond grateful” that no one was hurt, given the number of people who are usually in the park on a weekend day.
At the moment, it is not clear what caused the aircraft’s engine # 2 to malfunction. A video taken from the ground shows a large cloud of black smoke emitted from the plane.
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Jon Ostrower, editor in chief of Air Currents, explained on Twitter that “whatever happened to this engine had tremendous energy involved, given the almost total disintegration of the nacelle.”
United Airlines said all passengers and crew were transported back to the terminal in Denver and a new flight to Honolulu will be offered in the next few hours.