‘We heard a gigantic boom and, as we did that, we saw a huge puff of smoke and then stuff started falling out of the sky’
A United Airlines flight bound for Honolulu was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday after the Boeing 777-200 plane experienced a massive engine failure just minutes into flight.
Video of the exploded engine went viral on social media, as did pictures that showed pieces from that engine land in residential areas near Denver, Colorado.
What are the details?
Just minutes after departing Denver International Airport, the pilot of United Airlines flight 328 sent a distressed “MAYDAY” call over air traffic control communications to report “an engine failure,” and request an immediate return to the airport.
Video of the exploded right-wing engine, with missing pieces and on fire while still in the air, quickly went viral on social media.
Barbara Underwood, a Hawaii resident, told Hawaii News Now that she saw the moment the engine exploded.
“I looked out the window and I saw the engine,” she said. “I noticed it was just shaking a lot. And I thought, well, it’s the turbulence.”
