AIR SCARE
THE engine of a Boeing 777 exploded in mid-air and sent debris raining over Denver after a damaged fan blade suffered from "metal fatigue" and snapped off, the chairman of the US air accident investigator said.
Soon after leaving Denver International Airport bound for Honolulu, Hawaii, United Airlines flight UA 328 and began to lose altitude.
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The Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine failed with a “loud bang” four minutes after takeoff, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.
There was minor damage to the aircraft body but no structural damage, he added.
The preliminary findings came after an initial analysis of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
Sumwalt said it remained unclear whether the incident is consistent with an engine failure on a different Hawaii-bound United flight in February 2018 that was attributed to a fatigue fracture in a fan blade.
'METAL FATIGUE'
“What is important that we really truly understand the facts, circumstances and conditions around this particular event before we can compare it to any other event,” Sumwalt explained.
The engine that failed on the 26-year-old Boeing Co 777 and shed parts over a Denver suburb was a PW4000 used on 128 planes, or less than 10 per cent of the global fleet of more than 1,600 delivered 777 widebody jets.
The United engine’s fan blade will be examined on Tuesday after being flown to a Pratt laboratory where it will examined under supervision of NTSB investigators.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement on Sunday regarding Saturday's plane engine failure aboard a flight, adding the FAA would be stepping up measures to prevent such an incident from occurring again.
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following the incident last weekend.
"After consulting with my team of aviation safety experts about yesterday's engine failure aboard a airplane in Denver, I have directed them to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines," FAA Administrator Scott Dickson .
"We reviewed all available safety data following yesterday's incident," Dickson continued. "Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes."
Sumwalt added: "United Airlines has grounded all of the affected airplanes with these engines, and I understand the FAA is also working very quickly as well as Pratt & Whitney has reiterated or revised a service bulletin. It looks like action is being taken."
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In March 2019, after the 2018 United engine failure attributed to fan blade fatigue, the FAA ordered inspections every 6,500 cycles. A cycle is one take-off and landing.
A passenger onboard the United Airlines flight
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.
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.
United Airlines flight 328 mayday call
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 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.
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“We’ve experienced engine failure, need to turn. Mayday, mayday,” he says.
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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 the incident.
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Flight UA 328 mayday call after plane engine EXPLODED over Denver – before miraculously landing with NO injuries
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