Footage taken by a passenger that shows the aircraft’s right engine, which burst into flames mid-flight (Courtesy of USA Today).
Plane Engine Catches on Fire During United Airlines Flight
March 9, 2021
Shortly after United Airlines Flight 328 departed from Denver, Colorado for Honolulu, Hawaii on the afternoon of Saturday, February 20th, the 231 passengers and 10 crew members aboard the aircraft witnessed a frightening scene: the plane’s right engine had burst into flames. Fortunately, the pilots of the Boeing 777-200 plane were able to land safely back at the Denver airport they departed from.
The plane’s engine, a PW 4000, made by the company Pratt & Whitney, had malfunctioned as a result of metal fatigue in a fractured fan blade, according to the United States National Transportation Safety Board. It was found that the fractured blade had been hit by another broken blade, causing the engine to fall apart. This issue is not rare. Two engines broke down during a domestic Japan Airlines flight from Naha to Tokyo in December 2020. Additionally, in 2018, during another United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, a similar engine failure occurred. These planes were both able to land safely, as well. However, there is one important detail that points to the reason behind these engine failures: all three of these incidents involved the same aircraft and engine models.
The Pratt & Whitney PW 4000 engine was made specifically for Boeing 777 aircrafts. The numerous incidents of the engines catching on fire, however, have caused concern. The Boeing aircrafts that have the faulty engines have been grounded by both Boeing and airlines that utilize them.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement that inspections for Boeing 777s with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines with hollow fan blades will be more thorough going forward and that many may be grounded as a result.
On the ground in Broomfield, Colorado, a city near Denver, debris from the aircraft’s engine could be seen falling from the sky. Witnesses described two or more loud booming sounds before pieces of the engine plummeted towards the ground.
While this incident of engine failure did not have any injuries, situations like this can potentially be very dangerous. This issue with Boeing’s plane is also surfacing just after Boeing has started recovering from its 737 Max being grounded for longer than a year, following two fatal 2019 plane crashes and the reduced use of planes for travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, this issue will pave the way for changes in the aircraft industry, in how the planes are inspected, how they are maintained, and how they are created.
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