United Airlines passengers share the reactions to the engine’s explosion in the sky

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Others closed their windows, grabbed their loved ones, and prayed. Thousands of feet below, in a Denver suburb, people ran to the ground to take shelter to avoid debris that suddenly fell to the earth.

The pilots issued a mayday call and, after returning to the airport, the plane landed safely. Remarkably, there were no reports of injuries in the air or on the ground. Nevertheless, interviews with passengers show that the incident shocked everyone involved. Here’s how those in the sky and below said they reacted during those tense moments.

Passenger Travis Loock heard a loud thump, looked out his window and took this photo of the damaged engine on United Flight 328.

Travis Loock, a passenger on Flight 328, told CNN it was about 20 minutes after takeoff for Honolulu that he heard a thump.

“There was a big thump and the kind of noise you don’t want to hear when you’re on the plane,” Loock said, flying with his wife, in a phone call. ‘And I immediately put my hood on and was pretty scared to see the engine missing on my side.’

“We were just glad we weren’t across the ocean because that’s where we were going,” he said.

United Airlines flight suffers engine failure, causing debris in neighborhoods outside Denver

Loock said he could feel the fear on the plane, but everyone was “very calm.”

“A lot of people couldn’t see the bike on that side, anyway, so I was a little bit more panicked because I could see it, and I knew that wasn’t right,” he said.

Nate Fisher heard it too. “I thought lightning struck at first,” he told CNN subsidiary KCNC.

When Bob Brown heard the explosion, he looked out his window, saw the damage to the engine, and pulled out his phone to film it.

“We looked at each other, my wife and I, held hands and wished our kids would see them again,” he told KCNC.

Mike Vena was in the middle of the plane when he heard the explosion. “The plane just started to vibrate and it was like that for about half an hour, until the plane landed,” he told KCNC.

‘Let’s Just Pray’

Pieces of an aero engine from Flight 328 were scattered in a neighborhood in Broomfield, Colorado, on Saturday.

Vena said the crew’s professionalism calmed them down, but said he was still concerned.

“There was no panic among the crew, there was no panic among the passengers,” he said. “I was just worried about my kids because they’re not with us, so they’re away from school and this is our first vacation alone in 21 years.”

“At first I think it was quite a panic,” Dan Smith of Portland, Maine, told KCNC, “but I think people have done well to calm down.”

Brenda Dohn, who was traveling with her children, saw smoke outside the window and knew something wasn’t right. “My daughter was sitting in front of the window and I was like, ‘Don’t look, let’s close it, and let’s just pray,’ ‘she told CNN daughter KUSA.’ So that’s what we did. We just loved each other. hand and said some prayers. ‘
Debris from an airplane fell onto a football field in Broomfield, Colorado on Saturday.

Danielle Thomas, who lives in Honolulu, praised the flight crew for their behavior.

“I think the pilots had a huge hand in making everyone feel safe and comfortable,” she told KCNC.

Troy Lewis said he was sure they would return safely.

“As soon as we made a little corner and we could see the runway, I made sure our family, we told each other we loved each other,” he told KUSA. “You suddenly remember all those things that you can easily forget.”

When the plane landed safely, people cheered before taking off.

Once safely back on land, Loock said he calmed his nerves and prepared for the rest of the journey.

“We’re having a cocktail,” Loock said. ‘And yes, we’re going to try again. We are going to try again. The odds are with us this time. ‘

He wasn’t the only one who wanted to continue his journey. United said in a statement that a majority of passengers have taken another United flight to Honolulu, while “those who did not want to travel with us tonight were given hotel accommodation.”

What the people on the ground did

Debris from the plane landed Saturday in front of a house in Broomfield, Colorado.

While those in the air were stressed about landing, those on the ground looked up and saw debris falling from the sky.

The jet engine’s large circular cover fell just off a house, but thankfully missed more serious damage. Kirby Klements, the homeowner, told CNN-affiliate KMGH he thought his neighbor’s trampoline was blowing into his yard.

“But as soon as I open the door, I go, ‘That’s the front engine of an airplane,” said Klements.

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

Photos taken by CNN show debris from the plane that lost an engine over Broomfield, Colorado.

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

“Debris started to rain down, which looked like it was floating down and not very heavy, but if you look at it now it’s giant metal pieces everywhere,” he said.

“I was surprised that the plane went on more or less uninterruptedly, without actually changing its trajectory or doing anything,” he said. “It just kept going as it was, as if nothing happened.”

Cain said he and his children took shelter in a garden shed by the playground and watched the debris come down about two or three blocks away.

A Broomfield homeowner told KCNC he was making sandwiches for his daughters when the debris from the plane hit its roof.
Another man, Mark Moskovics, told KCNC that he heard a loud thump and looked out to see a large piece of debris falling from the sky onto the street.

“So then I went upstairs to get my wife and baby who were napping upstairs and let them come down to make sure they were safe,” he said.

Jim Hunter was coaching soccer practice in Commons Park when he saw the debris fall from the sky. The soccer team ran to safety and no one was injured. “They were just everywhere. The sky was full of these pieces raining on the field,” he told KUSA.

CNN’s Hollie Silverman contributed to this report.

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