Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
I’ve heard of small birds and ducks damaging engines, but this is the first I’ve heard of a rabbit causing a burst of flames from an engine and a diversion. United Airlines flight UA2235 was headed from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Edmonton International Airport (YEG) when a rabbit struck the right engine of the Boeing 737-800 this past Sunday, April 13th.
Passengers heard a loud explosion and saw flames pouring from the engine. The pilots declared an emergency and told air traffic controllers that they had sustained damage to the right engine. The aircraft entered a holding pattern and returned to Denver around 40 minutes later with all 153 passengers and six crewmembers arriving without injuries.
A replacement aircraft was found and the passengers arrived at their intended destination around three hours late. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is conducting an investigation, but released the following statement:
United Airlines Flight 2325 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:05 p.m. local time on Sunday, April 13, after the crew reported striking an animal while departing. The Boeing 737-800 was headed to Edmonton International Airport in Canada. The FAA will investigate.”
Anthony’s Take: Thankfully, all on the aircraft returned safely and got to their destination a few hours late. The only true victim here is the poor bunny. Here’s hoping he was not the one that was supposed to be delivering baskets to children on Easter.
(Featured Image Credit: @Yegwave via Instagram.)
(H/T: View from the Wing.)
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.