One passenger recalled seeing a “giant fireball” from his window seat
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Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight were temporarily diverted from their destination after an incident with a rabbit affected the aircraft’s engine.
On Sunday, April 13, the right engine on United Flight 2325 caught fire after a rabbit reportedly found itself on the runway as the airplane was departing Denver International Airport en route to Edmonton, Alberta.
“On Sunday, our flight from Denver to Edmonton (UA2325) returned safely to Denver to address a possible wildlife strike. The aircraft returned to the gate, and we lined up a new aircraft to get our customers on their way,” a spokesperson from United Airlines told PEOPLE in a statement.
Video shared by ABC News during a Good Morning America broadcast on Wednesday, April 16 showed the airborne plane — and the sparks coming from the engine.
“Rabbit through the number 2, that’ll do it, alright,” the plane’s pilot was heard saying in a LiveATC audio recording shared by the news station.
At the time, 153 passengers and six crew members were aboard the Boeing 737-800.
“It was a loud bang, and a significant vibration on the plane,” Scott Wolff, one of the passengers on the United Airlines flight, told ABC News.
“We proceeded to still climb,” he said of the plane continuing to fly as the engine burst into flames.
In addition to footage shown from witnesses on the ground, the news outlet also shared images of passengers sitting in window seats captured while on the airplane.
Wolff claimed, “Every few moments, there was a backfire coming from the engine,” also recalling the “giant fireball behind it.”
“Everybody on the plane then started to panic,” he said.
“My stomach dropped and I just thought, ‘I’m gonna see a plane go down,’ ” Wyatt McCurry, who witnessed the ordeal from the ground, told ABC News.
According to additional LiveATC audio recordings from the cockpit, pilots initially believed the engine fire had messed with their landing gear, causing the Boeing 737-800 to remain airborne for approximately 75 minutes.
