A PASSENGER onboard the United Airlines flight that landed safely after one engine exploded midair and burst into flames has revealed how he "thought we were going down."
David Delucia, who was traveling on the , was starting to relax in his seat while looking forward to a vacation in when a flash of light and loud bang interrupted an in-flight announcement on Saturday.
But soon after leaving Denver International Airport bound for Honolulu, Flight UA 328 – carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew – suffered a catastrophic failure in its right engine and began to lose altitude, a spokesperson told The Sun.
As Delucia and his wife prepared for the worst, residents of several suburbs below watched in horror as huge pieces of the engine casing and chunks of fiberglass rained down on sports fields and their lawns.
“When it initially happened, I thought we were done. I thought we were going down,” said Delucia, who stuffed his wallet in his pocket so he could be easily identified if the plane did go down, The Associated Press reported.
The explosion, visible from the ground, left a trail of black smoke in the sky, and tiny pieces of insulation, and ash-filled air.
Video footage shows the Boeing 777's engine glowing as flames lick the aircraft and parts drop onto homes in .
The plane landed safely at Denver International Airport, and no one was hurt, authorities said. But both those in the air and on the ground were deeply shaken.
“The pilot did an amazing job. It was pretty unnerving," Delucia added.
In a , one of the pilots can heard calmly telling air traffic control about the explosion before the plane miraculously landed with no one on board injured.
“We’ve experienced engine failure, need to turn. Mayday, mayday,” he says.
He then tells the control they "need a turn immediately" and is told to head left to return back to the airport.
After the heart-stopping explosion, the pilots were able to take the plane safely back to Denver International Airport following Saturday afternoon's midair terror.
Stunning images show the narrow escapes Broomfield residents had when parts from the huge engine landed in their yards, just feet away from their homes.
There were no reported injuries onboard, according to a statement from United Airlines.
FLIGHT 328: “328, uh, heavy. We’ve experienced engine failure, need to turn. Mayday, mayday. United, uh, 28, United 328, heavy. Mayday, mayday, aircraft, uh…”
DENVER TOWER: “Yes, 328 heavy, say again, read all that again.”
FLIGHT 328: “Denver, uh, departure. United 328, heavy. Mayday, aircraft, uh, just experienced engine failure, need a turn immediately.”
DENVER TOWNER: “328, left or right turn?”
FLIGHT 328: “Left turn.”
Video recorded aboard Flight UA328 captured the moment it touched back down on the runway safely, prompting the cabin to erupt into applause and cheers of relief.
Earlier, a spokesperson said authorities had received reports of a plane dropping debris in several neighborhoods after experiencing engine trouble.
Someone on the plane shared video of the engine catching fire.
One person posted a clip of the low-flying plane which they said appeared to experience an "explosion" but "continued on."
"I saw an explosion on this low flying aircraft over @broomfield about 45 minutes ago," the Twitter user wrote.
"Debris fell from the plane and left a black cloud of smoke. The plane continued on."
Another user wrote that he "heard and saw" an explosion before it started "raining metal."
"On the ground right now with fire and police responders," he posted.
"There is property damage to houses but nobody appears to be injured."
In a video posted on Twitter, one passenger appears to have captured the moment the plane touched down in Denver.
Passengers can be heard cheering and clapping as it steadies on the runway. In the clip, damage can be seen on the aircraft through one of the windows.
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