Eyewitnesses in the air and on the ground said they watched in horror and shock as parts of an airplane car exploded and broke apart shortly after the takeoff from Denver, which was raining down on homes.
Although no injuries or deaths were reported during Saturday’s incident in Broomfield, Colorado, residents and passengers told ABC News they were still shaken.
“It was more in the line of, ‘Hey, is everything going to be okay?’ “It’s not normal,” Brett Guy, who was a passenger aboard United Flight 328, told ABC News. “I did not know what to think.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 777-200’s real engine took off shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday at 1 p.m. for a flight from Denver to Honolulu. Parts of the engine started poaching when it was engulfed in flames, and debris fell into the air.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday night that based on their initial investigation, the inlet and hood of the engine were separated and two fan blades were broken.
According to the NTSB, a portion of one blade was embedded in the ring, and some of the fan blades showed damage to the tips and leading edges.
Guy said he and other passengers heard the sound of the tree and saw the engine come loose from their windows.
“The plane was shaking properly,” he recalls. “It did not stop, and no one really knew. And then you look out the window at the side. ‘
Tyler Thal, a resident of Broomfield, told ABC News he was walking with his family that afternoon when the engine exploded. Thal said he and his family were scared after hearing the explosion and seeing the flash of light.
He became more concerned about the passengers when he saw the jet with the engine keep on fire.
“It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen. So it was fear for my daughter, my wife and me [was] just worried, knowing that that plane is full of people, ‘Thal said.
Thal said he hopes the plane can make it safe with the remaining engine.
Guy also had a similar thought while sitting in the plane after recalling a moment from the 1986 Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun”.
“There’s the part where it looks, engine one is off. And then he’s like, ‘I turn it off,'” he recalls. “And for some reason I thought to myself, ‘We’re OK with one engine, but it’s a little messy. ‘
According to the FAA, the plane returned to the international airport, and all 231 passengers and ten crew members departed without any serious injuries.
However, the engine wreckage caused major damage to homes and streets. Large parts of the plane, including the metal coverings, fell on roofs, sidewalks and trees.
Kirby Klements told ABC News he was with his wife in his home when they heard the explosion. They rush to their front window and see a giant, circular piece of engine rolling past them.
“The hood finally lay here on my tree branch,” he said. “It came down and ended up squarely in the bed of my truck on the corner of my garage. It fell over and landed and ended up right there with my wife and I sitting inside, ‘What is this?’
Klements said the damage is very narrow.
“If anyone had been there who was seriously injured or killed,” he said. “I mean … the whole top of the truck is on the side of the cab of the truck.”
According to Klements, he and his wife heard from the news that the plane landed safely and that the debris was still on his property this afternoon.
“So it was very fortunate that no one was hurt on the ground by the large parts that hit the area,” he said. “And thank goodness no one was injured on the plane.”
Litter remains scattered across the city while the FAA and NTSB investigate the damage and investigate the incident.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson on Sunday issued an emergency directive requiring immediate or intensified inspections of Boeing 777 aircraft with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
“This is likely to mean that some aircraft will be taken out of service,” Dickson said in a statement.
Shortly after the FAA issued its directive, United announced that it would temporarily remove 24 Boeing 777 aircraft-powered aircraft from its schedule.
“Since yesterday, we have been in contact with regulators at the NTSB and FAA and will work closely with them to determine additional steps needed to ensure that these aircraft meet our stringent safety standards and can be re-employed,” he said. the airline said in a statement. “As we are exchanging aircraft, we expect only a small number of customers to be inconvenienced.”
A person familiar with the situation told ABC News this particular engine has a unique design. The blade itself is hollow titanium and the source compared it to a chocolate Easter bunny.
Tom Haueter, ABC News Consultant, and former NTSB director of the Office of Aviation Safety, called the blades of the engine fan ‘critical’ for the investigation.
“What the NTSB wants to look at is evidence of an existing problem with the fan blade engine,” he told ABC News.
ABC K. Roger K Lee contributed to this report.