Rare ‘Rabbit Strike’ causes United Airlines flights bound to Alberta To move back to Denver after the wing of the right engine of the plane erupted, causing panic among passengers on board.
A total of 153 passengers and six crew were aboard United 2325 on Sunday, April 13, as he began his departure from Denver International Airport on his way to Edmonton, Alberta.
According to airline officials, the rabbit found himself on the track as a passenger jet placed for the liftoff, causing small wildlife creatures to be sucked into the engine as the plane rose on the flight.
“There are strong bangs, and important vibrations in the aircraft,” SCOTT WOLFI passengers told “Good Morning America.” The plane continued to climb, Wolff said.
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Passenger watched fireball firing from engine
As the flight 2325 began the increase, passengers on the plane reported a ‘bumerang’ hearing and saw a fireball shoot from the right
.
“Every second, there is a fort that comes from the engine, the giant fireball behind it,” Woolf said. “Everyone on the plane then starts to panic.”
Witnesses in the airport at the airport looked scary as they could see the aircraft burning as it continued to rise higher, prompting concerns that the plane would crash.
“My stomach fell and I just thought, ‘I will see the plane down,'” Wyatt McCurry, who saw difficulty from the ground, told ABC News.
Pilots quickly realized through a series of warnings that they had mechanical failure; Initially thinking the engine fire had caused the landing gear to lock, the pilot quickly published the ATC to warn them on the issue.
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Aircraft lived in the air 75 minutes before returning to Denver Airport
It was horrific 75 minutes before United’s flight returned to Denver Airport about 8:05 pm local time, where firefighters waited to extinguish the engine fire.
“On Sunday, our flight from Denver to Edmonton (UA2325) returned safely to Denver to address the possibility of wild strikes.
The passenger on the plane breathed a sigh of relief as they were moved from the plane, before boarding a new plane to Alberta.
According to the FAA, the wildlife attacks are relatively common, reporting more than 20,000 incidents in the last year. However, rabbit attacks are extremely rare, with only four incidents reported in the last 12 months.
Bird attacks are also quite common, according to the FAA database, with 19,000 incidents recorded in 2023, many causes of serious engine fire, or worse, airline accidents, such as deadly
In December 2024.
“The birds are still flying, and they will always fly, and the airplane will always fly,” said Robert Sumwalt, former Chairman of the National Transport Security Board. “So the trick is to keep the two of them separated.”