United Airlines plane with exploded engine drops debris over Denver area before emergency landing
Courtesy Broomfield Police Department
A United Airlines passenger jet en route to Hawaii and carrying hundreds of passengers experienced a dramatic engine failure Saturday over the Denver area and dropped a large amount of debris on neighborhoods before safely making an emergency landing.
The massive Boeing 777-200 plane — one of the largest aircraft in United’s fleet — landed safely at Denver International Airport and no injuries were reported either aboard the aircraft or on the ground, authorities said.
Police said it was miraculous that no one on the ground was hurt given the amount of debris that fell from the sky and the populated area that it descended upon.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation into the incident. Local authorities are looking into the situation, too.
Photos posted by the Broomfield Police Department showed large, circular pieces of the engine’s cowling leaning against a house in the suburb about 25 miles north of Denver. People called 911 to report a loud explosion. Some thought the aircraft was falling out of the sky after its right engine broke apart and caught fire.
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Flight 328 @united engine caught fire. my parents are on this flight everyone’s okay though! pic.twitter.com/cBt82nIkqb
— michaela (@michaelagiulia) February 20, 2021
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