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Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight went through the petrifying ordeal of flying mid-air in an aircraft with a damaged wing.
The Boeing 757-200, which was heading to Boston from San Francisco, made an emergency landing in Denver on Monday before all the 165 passengers were safely put on another flight to their destination.
Kevin Clarke, a passenger on the damaged plane, recalled the harrowing moment of looking out the window and seeing parts of the plane’s wing missing.
“I immediately opened the window, looked out there going, ‘Well, that’s not good!'” Kevin said, as quoted by ABC7 News.
The passenger said he felt the plane shaking right after takeoff, and he grew concerned when he began hearing unusual noises.
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“All of a sudden, I hear this loud vibration and noise that I’ve never heard from a plane before,” a passenger recalled
Image credits: Image credits: Pexels / Magda Ehlers (Representational image)
“All of a sudden, I hear this loud vibration and noise that I’ve never heard from a plane before, and it stopped within seconds, and I’m like, ‘Well, that’s good it stopped,'” he added.
A video of the incident was shared on social media, showing the damaged aircraft landing in Denver.
“We’re just about to land in Denver with the wing coming apart on the plane. Came apart when we took off in San Francisco. And we’re just about on the ground. Can’t wait for this flight to be over,” said a voice in the background of the video.
A video shared on social media showed the plane landing with a damaged wing
A United flight from San Francisco to Boston had to be diverted to Denver after it was discovered mid-air a portion of the wing was damaged. Passenger Kevin Clarke took this video. What he says he saw before getting on the plane on @boston25 this morning. pic.twitter.com/0GIaOmS46t
— Kelly Sullivan (@ksullivannews) February 20, 2024
Before the plane made the emergency landing in Denver, one of the pilots had stepped out of the cockpit and walked down the aisle, Kevin recalled. After looking out of the window, the pilot returned to the cockpit, and, moments later, an announcement was made about the plane sustaining damage, Kevin said.
“Minutes later, he comes on the PA system and announces that we’ve sustained some damage to the slat underneath the wing,” Kevin said.
While speaking to Boston 25 News about the nerve-wracking experience, Kevin said he believes the airlines effectively managed the situation.
“First, there was some panic, but the pilot had come back, looked at it, took some pictures of it, talked to the guys on the ground, said, ‘Yup, proceed to Denver, shouldn’t be a problem,'” he told the outlet.
A picture of the damaged wing was shared on Reddit, according to CBS News.
The plane made an emergency landing in Denver after the damage was noticed
“Sitting right on the wing and the noise after reaching altitude was much louder than normal. I opened the window to see the wing looking like this. How panicked should I be? Do I need to tell a flight crew member?” the user wrote on Reddit.
United Airlines confirmed that the incident took place and said passengers had safely boarded a different aircraft to their destination.
“United Flight 354 diverted to Denver yesterday afternoon to address an issue with the slat on the wing of the aircraft,” an airline spokesperson told FOX Business. “The flight landed safely, and we arranged for a different aircraft to take customers to their destination, which has since arrived in Boston.”
All the passengers aboard the damaged aircraft were safely put on a different flight to their destination
Image credits: Image credits: Pexels / Johannes Plenio (Representational image)
What do you think ?
Kirsten Kerkhof 9 months ago
Yup, pilot was right to fly on, though I understand the passengers' concern. This kind of damage to the leading edge slat does interfere with lift and it's certainly not ideal, but it is still superficial and planes are perfectly able to fly with it. Just have the plane taken for service as soon as it reaches an airport with a suitable maintenance hangar.
Philip Rutter 9 months ago
That is a VERY disturbing kind of damage! Things like "bird-strikes" can cause enough damage to see and worry about - but this looks like metallurgical leprosy! Or something. Very strange patterns- which means not understood-
Robert T 9 months ago
This plane has more issues than this if you can "open the window"! You opened the window blind you overdramatic pillock! And the part of the "wing" that was damaged was a leading edge flap. The plane would not fall from the sky without this, but it is definitely a cause for concern, as it will 1) upset the plane's handling when the flaps are lowered for landing and 2) could potentially detach and puncture the wing fuel tank. The correct thing to do is to inform the flight crew. The pilots cannot see the wing from the cockpit and letting them know helps them to make a more informed decision as to whether to make an emergency landing or not.
Kirsten Kerkhof 9 months ago
Yup, pilot was right to fly on, though I understand the passengers' concern. This kind of damage to the leading edge slat does interfere with lift and it's certainly not ideal, but it is still superficial and planes are perfectly able to fly with it. Just have the plane taken for service as soon as it reaches an airport with a suitable maintenance hangar.
Philip Rutter 9 months ago
That is a VERY disturbing kind of damage! Things like "bird-strikes" can cause enough damage to see and worry about - but this looks like metallurgical leprosy! Or something. Very strange patterns- which means not understood-
Robert T 9 months ago
This plane has more issues than this if you can "open the window"! You opened the window blind you overdramatic pillock! And the part of the "wing" that was damaged was a leading edge flap. The plane would not fall from the sky without this, but it is definitely a cause for concern, as it will 1) upset the plane's handling when the flaps are lowered for landing and 2) could potentially detach and puncture the wing fuel tank. The correct thing to do is to inform the flight crew. The pilots cannot see the wing from the cockpit and letting them know helps them to make a more informed decision as to whether to make an emergency landing or not.
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