United Flight Suffers Engine Failure, Scatters Debris Over US City

DENVER (AFP) - A United Airlines flight suffered a fiery engine failure Saturday shortly after taking off from Denver on its way to Hawaii, dropping massive debris on a residential area before a safe emergency landing, officials said.

“Flight UA328 from Denver to Honolulu experienced an engine failure shortly after departure, returned safely to Denver and was met by emergency crews as a precaution,” the airline said on Twitter.

There were no injuries on the plane or on the ground, authorities said.

The safe landing of the flight, which US media said had 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, came despite the stricken engine, images of which were captured and posted on Twitter.

A video shot from inside the plane showed the right engine ablaze and wobbling on the wing of the Boeing 777-200, 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.