A airplane engine burst into flame after reportedly striking an animal on departure from Denver International Airport, prompting pilots to make an emergency landing over the weekend, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control recordings.
“United 2325, it looks like you got, every once in awhile, little bursts of flame coming out the right engine,” somebody said over the radio.
“We think we lost our right motor,” a crew member on the plane replies.
The United Airlines flight bound for Canada, a Boeing 737-800 that was carrying 153 passengers and six crew members, landed safely Sunday without reports of any injuries, the airport said in a statement.
The FAA said it is investigating the incident.
Animals, particularly birds, hitting airplanes isn’t uncommon, with nearly 20,000 strikes reported in 2023, according to an FAA report. In the most extreme cases over the years, collisions with wildlife killed 76 people and destroyed 126 aircraft between 1988 and 2023 in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.