A United Airlines flight has landed safely at Denver International Airport after its right engine failed, the Federal Aviation Administration said, with dramatic images showing debris from the plane scattered on the ground.
The Boeing 777-200 plane, with 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, was heading to Honolulu on Saturday when it suffered an engine failure soon after takeoff, the airline said.
There were no reports of injuries on the plane or the ground.
A video shot from inside the aircraft showed the right engine ablaze and wobbling on the wing of the plane, its cover entirely missing as the aircraft flew over a barren landscape.
“I can honestly say I thought we were going to die at one point – because we started dropping altitude right after the explosion,” passenger David Delucia told The Denver Post.
“I grabbed my wife’s hand and said, ‘We’re done’.”
Delucia said his stepdaughter tweeted the online video, which was shot by another passenger.
Images posted by police in Broomfield, Colorado showed significant plane debris on the ground, including an engine cowling scattered outside a home and what appeared to be other parts in a field. Police tape was used to cordon off the debris.
One video taken from what appeared to be inside the United plane showed an engine on fire.
Another video on social media showed a cloud of black smoke being left by a plane.