United Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Denver Airport After Engine Catches Fire
An engine of a United flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport on Sunday after catching fire midair, reportedly due to striking an animal.
According to a recording obtained by the Associated Press, someone over the radio notified the flight, “United 2325, it looks like you got, every once in awhile, little bursts of flame coming out the right engine.” The crew member on the plane responded, “We think we lost our right motor.”
The Canada-bound flight departed from DIA just after 7:20 p.m. and had to divert back to the airport less than an hour later to address a possible wildlife strike, as confirmed by United spokesman Russell Carlton.
Fortunately, none of the 153 passengers and six crew members onboard were injured during the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating the matter.
Wildlife strikes, including bird strikes, are not uncommon in the aviation industry, according to the FAA. Between 1990 and 2023, over 290,000 strikes with aircraft were recorded in the U.S., averaging around 8,800 per year.
Despite the high number of strikes, only 357 people were injured due to wildlife collisions with U.S. civil aircraft during the same 33-year period, as reported by the FAA.
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