Denver plane: United Airlines flight returns to airport if plane crashes in suburbs outside Denver

The flight returned about 20 minutes after the return police department in Broomfield, Colorado, said via Twitter that he received reports that a plane flying over the suburb of Denver had engine problems and “dropped debris in several neighborhoods around 1:08 p.m.”

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement that a Boeing 777-200 had returned safely to Denver International Airport after experiencing a right-hand engine interruption shortly after takeoff.

“The FAA is aware of reports of debris in the vicinity of the aircraft’s flight path,” the statement read.

United Airlines told CNN there were 241 people, including 10 crew members, on flight 328.

Pilots are heard making a day-to-day call and saying, “We have experienced an engine outage,” according to air traffic control communications with Flight 328 obtained by CNN.

Rachel Welte, a spokeswoman for the Broomfield Police Department, told a news conference that police had received calls from residents saying they had heard a loud explosion.

“Then they just started to see what a plane was falling from the sky. What it was was debris,” Welte said, describing the debris as “possibly some outer parts of the plane.”

According to the FAA, the police are working to protect the large rubble field for the National Transportation Safety Council, which will be in charge of the investigation.

“NTSB has launched an investigation into the engine incident on February 20, 2021 at a United 777. NTSB investigators in Denver are responding,” NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson told CNN.

Meanwhile, Broomfield police have warned residents not to touch or move aircraft debris when they see it in their yard, as the NTSB ‘wants all debris to remain for investigation.’

Kieran Cain told CNN he was playing with his children at a local elementary school when a plane flew over and they heard a loud surge.

“We saw it going on, we heard the big explosion, we looked up, there was black smoke in the air,” Cain told CNN.

“Debris started raining, you know, it seems to be drifting downhill and not very heavy, but actually look at it now, these are giant pieces of metal everywhere,” he said.

“I was amazed that the plane continued uninterrupted without really changing the runway or doing anything,” he said. “It just kept going as it happened as if nothing had happened.”

Cain said he and his children were taking shelter under an overhang when the debris came down.