“We could see that there was a giant black cloud of smoke high in the sky, immediately followed by. You know what looks like pieces of the plane,” Cain told CNN. “Basically a shower of things falling from the sky.”
About 10,000 feet above, Travis Loock hears the same surge, but comes from the plane he was on – United Flight 328. Just minutes after taking off for Honolulu, the engine failed. When the plane returned to Denver International Airport, it dropped more engine debris through the roofs of homes and into yards.
The National Transport Safety Council (NTSB) said Sunday an initial inspection of the Pratt & Whitney PW4077 engine of United Airlines Flight 328 showed that two fan blades were broken and that the remaining blades were showing damage to the points and leading edges.
These are preliminary findings and should not be considered conclusive about what went wrong on Saturday, but they are still important.
Loock shared videos which showed that the engine was completely stripped of its outer casing.
“A lot of people could not see the engine on that side,” Loock told CNN. “I was a little more scared because I could see it, and I knew it was not right,” he said.
“We were just glad we weren’t across the ocean because that was where we were headed.”
Boeing recommends suspending aircraft with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engine
“While the NTSB investigation is ongoing, we have recommended suspending the 69 in-service and 59-store 777s powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines until the FAA identifies the appropriate inspection protocol,” Boeing said. .
The FAA issued an emergency order earlier Sunday saying it would intensify inspections of Boeing 777 aircraft with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
United Airlines announced Sunday that it is removing all of its Boeing 777 aircraft in service that use the same engine. The Japanese Ministry of Transportation has said that the country’s domestic airlines have ordered to halt the operations of Boeing 777 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
Pratt & Whitney issued a statement saying they had sent a team to work with investigators on the incident.
“Pratt & Whitney is actively coordinating with operators and regulators to support the revised inspection interval of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines that power Boeing 777 aircraft,” the company said in a statement. “Any further investigative updates regarding this event will be determined by the NTSB. Pratt & Whitney will continue to ensure the safe operation of the fleet.”
Fear in the air
Loock, who was on his way back to the airport, said the mood in the plane was tense. The pilot arrives and says they will land in four minutes.
Passenger Brenda Dohn said she and her daughter, just like other passengers, took the time to pray.
“My daughter was sitting at the window and … I was just like, ‘do not look like we’re closing it and let’s just pray.”
Air traffic sound from the plane conveyed the feeling of urgency but not panic.
“United 328 Heavy – Mayday Mayday … Denver leaves. United 328 Heavy Mayday. Aircraft only experienced an engine outage – must turn immediately.”
The wreckage of the failed engine rained throughout a mile through a soccer field and nearby neighborhoods, Broomfield police spokeswoman Rachel Welte told reporters at a news conference Saturday.
“We sent police officers and within minutes we were at the scene of some of these houses, and we actually saw some of these large pieces of debris,” Welte said.
Welte looked at the dirt field and how busy the area was, saying: “the fact that we are still not getting any reports of injuries is absolutely shocking at this point.”
“This park on a day like today, when it was not as cold as last weekend, we can have hundreds of people here.”
CNN’s Pete Muntean, Alta Spells, David Williams, Konstantin Toropin, Chuck Johnston, Andy Rose and Lucy Kafanov contributed to this report.