A United Airlines flight departing Denver International Airport en route to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada apparently ingested a rabbit which affected the aircraft’s engine.
On Sunday, April 13, an engine on United Flight 2325 caught fire after a rabbit reportedly wandered onto the runway as the airplane was about to depart. A video showed the airborne plane with sparks coming from the engine after the ingestion.
“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 said in a statement.
The pilot and air traffic controller were recorded on LiveATC saying, “There’s a rabbit through the number 2.” And the reply from ATC: “Rabbit through the number 2, that’ll do it, alright.”
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, a passengers on the flight, said in a news report. “We proceeded to still climb,” he said and added that the engine burst into flames. “Every few moments, there was a backfire coming from the engine,” also recalling the “giant fireball behind it,” Wolff said.
In LiveATC audio recordings, the pilots thought the engine fire had caused their landing gear to become inoperable. The Boeing 737-800 stayed airborne for 75 minutes while the crew worked through the situation. The aircraft landed safely.