The company stated: “Pratt & Whitney is actively coordinating with operators and regulators to support the revised inspection interval for the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine that powers the Boeing 777 aircraft.”
What happened during the flight
“United Airlines 328 Heavy-Mayday Mayday… Denver departs. United Airlines 328 Heavy Mayday. The aircraft has just experienced an engine failure-it needs to turn immediately,” the air traffic sound of the aircraft sounded on Saturday.
Investigators said that the PW4000 engine has 22 blades, one of which was found hidden in the containment ring of the jet engine. Another one was found in a football field in Broomfield, Colorado.
On Monday, investigators said that one of the blades of the right engine of the plane had loosened on the hub and it was likely that it had hit another blade that broke in the midspan. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that the damage shown by the former was “consistent with metal fatigue.”
Sam Walter said the flight fuselage also damaged non-critical composite parts that are designed to make the aircraft more aerodynamic.
According to the video of passenger Travis Loock, on the plane, passengers saw the engine completely peeled from its casing.
Loock told CNN that he was in a nervous mood, but when the pilot continued to say they would land in four minutes, everyone was “very calm.”
Passenger Brenda Dohn said: “My daughter is sitting on the window…I’m like,’Don’t look, let’s close it, let’s pray”.
Traces of destruction
No passengers were injured. The residents around Broomfield did not emerge from the falling debris that stretched for a mile.
Rachel Welte, a spokesperson for the Broomfield Police Department, told reporters on Saturday: “We have sent police officers and within a few minutes we were actually on the scene of some of the houses, and we actually I saw some of these fragments.”
Welt said that looking at the debris field and how busy the area is, “the fact that we still haven’t received any harm at this point is absolutely shocking.”
“In this park on a day like today, the weather was not as cold as last weekend. We may have hundreds of people here.”
“I’m sitting here looking at the trash sitting in my driveway, thinking:’Oh my God, what should I do now?'” Clements said of the vehicle in which he invested so much time and money .
Cain told CNN: “We can see black clouds in the sky high in smoke, followed by the appearance of the airplane.” “Basically, it’s something falling from the sky.”
Carole Walker of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association told KCNC that it may take some time for community members to receive payment from United Airlines, but most standard insurance plans should cover “objects falling from the sky.”
Next survey location
Sam Walter said the problematic engine will be removed from the plane for further inspection.
After flying to the Pratt & Whitney Lab by private jet on Monday night, part of the blade will be inspected on Tuesday. Investigators believe that they can determine how long the blade has been damaged before it is damaged.
Due to an engine failure, Boeing recommended to stop using 777 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines, and United Airlines has cancelled them after the incident. The FAA also issued an emergency order earlier on Sunday saying it would strengthen inspections of Boeing 777 aircraft equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Pete Montain, Holly Silverman, Alta Spices, David Williams, Constantine Torobin, Chuck John Stone, Andy Rose, Gregory Clary and Lucy Kafanov contributed to this report.
