A number of videos are circulating on social media this week showing passengers cheering after a pilot managed to land a plane after its engine exploded.
According to Sky News, the pilot of Flight 328 was forced to turn the Boeing 777-200 airplane around and land at Denver airport, just 30 minutes after setting off while en route to Honolulu in Hawaii on Saturday, February 20.
In footage of the incident that has since appeared online, the plane's engine can be seen suddenly and dramatically bursting into flames while in the air, with black more and fire issuing from it.
Despite the alarming mishap, the pilot of the plane was able to successfully land the plane back down on the runway, and in a separate video, the passengers and crew can be heard cheering with overwhelming relief.
Thankfully, out of 231 passengers and 10 crew members, no one was injured.
Commenting on the frightening experience in a later interview with The Denver Post, passenger David Delucia stated that he believed that he and all the passengers on board were doomed, stating:
"I can honestly say I thought we were going to die at one point — because we started dropping altitude right after the explosion. I grabbed my wife’s hand and said: 'We’re done.'
"Everything started shaking, like the worst turbulence you can imagine. When we started to descend, we started going down through the clouds. People were saying that they were dumping fuel while it was going on."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for United Airlines has responded to the incident in an official statement shared on the airline's official Twitter account, claiming:
"Flight 328 from Denver to Honolulu experienced an engine failure shortly after departure, returned safely to Denver, and was met by emergency crews as a precaution.
"There are no reported injuries onboard, and we will share more information as it becomes available."
Although none of the passengers or crew were hurt, a large amount of debris from the broken engine ended up falling to the ground and landing in the nearby Colorado town of Broomfield as a result of the explosion
The local Broomfield police department has since uploaded a number of pictures of the shattered fuselage to social media, which startled residents and caused minor property damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board has subsequently launched an investigation into the accident and asked for all the debris to remain in place until the cause of the explosion can be determined.