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Millions Face Water, Food Crisis In Texas After Deadly Storms; El Paso's Power Grid Weathered The Deadly Storm; Reports Of Airplane Debris In Neighborhoods Outside Of Denver; Eyewitness Describes Engine Parts Falling From Sky; Broomfield P.D. Spokeswoman Gives Press Conference. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired February 20, 2021 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:18]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Good afternoon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill, in for Ana Cabrera in New York.
Millions of people in the winter storm battered state of Texas are finally getting a break from the elements, although they still are dealing with a different and desperate problem. They're dealing with a lack of basic utilities. Electrical power starting to come back online, this after millions of people spent days and nights in the dark, frigid cold.
Many homes across the state still without running water. People waiting in long lines to get drinking water. That's because their water either hasn't yet been restored by local officials or because their pipes burst when the temperatures dropped this week.
The White House approving a major disaster declaration for the state of Texas today and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is actually in Texas after raising millions of dollars to aid people affected by the brutal storms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): This is not just an issue for Texans. This is an issue for our entire country. Disasters don't strike everyone equally, when you have already have so many families in the state and across the country that are on the brink, that can't even afford an emergency to begin with. If you are documented, undocumented, no matter your income, no matter your housing status, you can get help here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Austin.
So, Omar, half the people in Texas, more than 14 million people were told still need water or under a boil water advisory right now. How are folks getting by?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erica. Water is really the focus over the course of this weekend as maybe electricity was the focus early on. We're at a brewery in Austin and what you see behind me is they're finishing up filling up this water tank that the Austin fire department is going to use to go around to locations that actually need water.
And so they have been a huge help with basically what they've been doing is they had water on their own. They've been helping boil water and not just the fire department but others have been able to sort of come around this corner.
And there's been a steady stream over the course of the day, but not any at the moment. They've been able to come here and fill up water bottles and tanks to take back to their homes because as you mentioned, we're under a boil water advisory. Not every place has running waters to begin with. As Texans trying to dig themselves out of the catastrophic week that was and it was not just here in Austin but places across Texas.
In Houston, for example, they've gotten their water pressure back to where they would like it to have a healthy system, but when you talk to the Houston mayor, Sylvester Turner, he wants more answers like so many others as to how this happened in the first place so they can prevent it from happening again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D), HOUSTON, TX: For anybody that attempts to blame what happened this week in Texas on renewables, then totally, totally disingenuous. What is important to bear in mind is that the climate is getting warmer and we have to address the issue of climate change even in the state of Texas. Anybody who contends that what happened this week was due to renewable energy, they're trying to deflect where the real responsibility lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, President Biden has approved the major disaster declaration for many counties in the state of Texas which means that people are going to be able to provide for individual assistance from the federal government. Now, the governor, Greg Abbott, here in Texas, thanks the president for that. However, he said it was a little short of what he wanted. He was hoping to get it for all 249 counties in Texas.
The emergency declaration, the major disaster one, covers 77 counties but largely, encompassing those areas that were hardest hit over the course of this. But again, when you talk about the water that needs to be restored, best case scenario, some places looking at the end of the weekend but that seemed to be the next major hurdle to get people back to some sense of normalcy, at least from what they were before this past week.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Boy, what a week it has been.
Omar Jimenez live in Austin for us, thank you.
People in one major city in Texas managed to avoid the widespread power outage that put most of the state in the dark and the cold last week. The lights in El Paso actually stayed on. Why?
Here's CNN's Dianne Gallagher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No power, no water. It's been the same story across the state of Texas this week. Well, most of it.
RALPH LOYA, EL PASO RESIDENT: They're freezing in San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, the Rio Grande Valley, we're very, very lucky.
GALLAGHER: The reason the lights never really went out in a major way here in El Paso is a bit more complicated, and rooted in experience.
LOYA: We had gas shortages, water shortages, power outages.
GALLAGHER: Ralph Loya, like everyone else in El Paso, can't forget the 2011 deep freeze.
LOYA: It was a catastrophe to hit the city that we were not prepared for.
GALLAGHER: El Paso Electric Company, senior vice president of operations Steve Buraczyk was in the control room, 10 years ago, this month, when it all came crashing down.
STEVEN BURACZYK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY: We actually had over 3 days where the temperature in El Paso never got above freezing. We lost most of our local units. Those impacts lasted for weeks, and weeks, after.
So, we made that decision that we're going to harden our assets, that we're going to invest in new technology, and invest a new infrastructure.
GALLAGHER: The winterize plant that manager Albert Montano is showing us around today exists, in part, because of the big freeze.
ALBERT MONTANO, PROJECT ENGINEER, EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY: We're designed for running in the summer. But there's a few times where we have an overnight low, and we really need all of the systems up and ready. Our team was able to do that.
BURACZYK: It's a lot easier with a brand-new plant, because now we designed it for minus 10. You have the top technology, state-of-the- art, so you can dine in redundant systems.
GALLAGHER: And built-in redundancies that needed to be tapped in this week, when natural gas supply drop.
MONTANO: It's a diesel operation of the first few units this week, and that is when we started seeing issues with gas pipeline pressure.
GALLAGHER: But another reason El Paso isn't in the dark? It's located so far from other Lone Star cities that it's not on the same power grid as 90 percent of the rest of Texas. There are three power grids in the country, Western, that's where El Paso is on, Eastern, and Texas, the only state to have its own grid, in part to avoid certain federal regulations.
This week, the Texas system, which is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, failed, and has faced accusations of being unprepared for the storm.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: I am taking responsibility for the current status of ERCOT. Again, I find what's happened unacceptable.
GALLAGHER: Planning for a once in a decade storm is expensive, but it is possible, and worth it, says El Paso Electric, if it prevents disasters like what we're seeing in Texas this week.
BURACZYK: When we saw what happened to our community in 2011, we made a decision, and we said, never again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALLAGHER (on camera): Well, this doesn't mean the winter storm was not challenging here in El Paso. In fact, they had employees working around the clock making sure that this city did not suffer the same fate as others in this state. They did say that about 3,000 households lost power but fewer than 900 were for more than five minutes and they say that almost every household had power back on within a few hours.
Dianne Gallagher, CNN, El Paso, Texas.
HILL: My next guest has been warning about the U.S. power grid for nearly two decades.
Bill Richardson served, of course, as energy secretary under President Clinton.
Good to have you with us today.
You know, back in 2003 was when you said the U.S. was a, quote, superpower with a third world power transmission grid. So based on that, are you surprised at all by what we saw this week, this past week in Texas?
BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER ENERGY SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, climate change has caused this. Yes, I was surprised. I thought that even though the grid in Texas was decentralized and not much regulation, that they would have winterized and they would have taken steps to deal better with the preparedness and maintenance of their grid.
But as you mentioned, when I was energy secretary in 2000, we had this grid problem, massive, in California and then in the Midwest, in 2003, rolling blackouts. So we have to modernize our infrastructure, our power grids.
We talk about infrastructure, yes, it's important. Bridges, highways, broadband, but left behind is our power grids. The three power grids that exist today but still have not managed to modernize.
There's too little capacity. Their lines are inefficient. Not enough investment and upgrading and maintaining them.
So we've got to make an effort in an infrastructure piece of legislation to include -- to include our power grid, our energy transmission lines. Otherwise, these crises are going to happen nationally. It's not just going to be Texas, because of climate change and freezing and overheating and lack of maintenance and modernizing our energy facilities.
HILL: So, to that point, do you think this is enough of a wake-up call? Because we've had issues, as you point out, for decades, and people have been warning of this for decades. Is this enough to spur action?
RICHARDSON: Yes, I believe the president, who's responded well saying we need more energy investments in renewable energy, solar and wind. He's taken these steps to deal with the crisis in Texas, the emergency declarations.
But I think we've got to go one step further. This is an opportunity to include the power grid in an infrastructure bill but because of our spending on the COVID, you know, we're spending trillions, I think this is a way to find a cooperative public/private partnership to invest in the grid.
Capital markets are ready to work with the government, loan guarantees, ways that together we can find tax credits so that micro grids and the local communities can come from the big grids so that local communities can install rooftop solar, can install water systems that are energy-efficient.
I think we've got to be creative but we can't just say we're going to put all federal money into the grid. I think there's an opportunity for co-investments with capital markets that are right (ph) --
HILL: And do you --
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARDSON: -- to invest, I believe.
HILL: And do you think, you know, proposing that, could that be more palatable across the board? There was a lot of finger-pointing as we saw this week, which also involved throughout the week. You know, everybody sort of wants a scapegoat and a lot turned into politicking.
But the bottom line is the system failed. Millions of people were left in the cold. At least 26 people died and the issue is not just going to get better from finger-pointing.
So do you think that that's a way to perhaps bring about more bipartisan support which we know exists for investing in infrastructure, but perhaps making it more palatable across the board, something like you propose, a public/private, bringing in corporations, perhaps?
RICHARDSON: Yeah, I believe what you just said is the answer. In other words, because of the crisis that just happened. And the fact that the infrastructure initiative has bipartisan support and had it under President Trump. They just didn't get it done.
But I think today, with this crisis, with the need to modernize our grid because of future potential problems, we can do it. But we can't just say we're going to spend federal money. It's got to be partnerships with states, with local communities, with the private sector.
It's got to be incentives so that capital markets can invest in infrastructure, so that they invest in renewable energy and solar and wind. And we should stop this politicking. To blame the solar and wind that accounts just 10 percent of the grid there when the natural gas pipelines in Texas were exploding because the control heads hadn't been modernized in ten years, they weren't working.
You know, this is not a time to play politics. Texas was affected with oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear and renewables, but it was the grid, and it's a lack of regulation and investment that caused this.
So let's try to fix this, make it a national bipartisan effort and I think President Biden is on the right path in pushing short-term for helping Texas and also a national strategy. But something creative like a public/private partnership capital markets on infrastructure, on our grid, I think needs to be proposed and pushed on a bipartisan basis.
HILL: Bill Richardson, always great to have you. Appreciate your insight. Thank you.
We want to get now to this breaking news out of Colorado -- reports of airplane debris in several neighborhoods outside of Denver. According to the Broomfield Police Department, a number of -- a fair amount were spotted in Broomfield. So, a man in the area took these photos, post them as you can see some of the debris here.
The Broomfield Police Department tweeting that it has been getting reports of a plane flying over the area with engine trouble. The debris was dropped in several neighborhoods around 1:08 p.m. local time. The good news, no injuries have been reported.
The plane did not land in Broomfield, but we can tell you, Broomfield, which is about 25 miles north of Denver, is about 30 miles east of Denver International Airport, where we want to go straight now to CNN's Pete Muntean, our aviation correspondent.
So, Pete, as we're following this, as I understand it, an official has just confirmed that a United plane that was on route to Hawaii had engine issues, returned to Denver International Airport.
What more do we know?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right, Erica. You know, it's really remarkable, these images that we're seeing that keep coming in. Denver International Airport officials now tell us United Flight 328, a Boeing 777, large wide body airliner, bound for Honolulu, returned to the airport after having engine trouble.
[16:15:06]
And neighbors say, who took these photos of the large airplane parts in their yard, that they heard a loud boom and these parts rained down into their yard, and to me looks like parts of the engine of this Boeing 777.
HILL: Wow.
MUNTEAN: Really, more images keep coming up by the moment and you have to applaud the flight crew here for doing such an incredible job of getting this airplane back. This is so may incredibly rare than a commercial airliner, in an age when commercial air travel is the safest that it's ever been would have an in-flight like this, and lose parts mid-air and then make a successful return back to the airport.
Really, pretty incredible flying by the crew. It sounds like passengers have been getting off of this flight, have been talking to local media. They cheered when the plane landed, of course.
But this is something that is very abnormal, very unique and very rare. And it seems like a really professional job by the flight crew here.
We're standing by for more from United Airlines and also standing by for more from the FAA.
HILL: Absolutely.
MUNTEAN: But a lot of coordination had to take place to get this airplane back safely.
HILL: It certainly did. And as you point out, you know, we should say the local police department there in Broomfield saying no injuries reported at this time. These pictures keep coming in of the debris. No injuries on board, the plane landed safely. All of that is so remarkable.
You know, I was looking at these pictures earlier, Pete, and I was trying to figure out what this large disc is in the front yard of the home. So, I know you've seen of those. So, that you're saying that disc, essentially, that we see, that looks like it would be part of the engine?
MUNTEAN: Yeah, to me, this looks like part of the engine, nacelle is what it's called, which is essentially, the parts that surrounds the fast-moving turbine inside of the jet engine.
HILL: Uh-huh.
MUNTEAN: This is sort of the outer exterior portion, is what it looks like to me. One of the photos that looks like it's the very front of the engine nacelle around the opening for the jet engine. Another photo to me looks like part of the pylon that hangs off of the wing that contains the actual jet engine.
So, these are really robust, highly engineered pieces.
HILL: Wow.
MUNTEAN: One has to wonder as you look at this, and you hear the reports of a boom like this that was audible from the ground is, was there an explosion of some type and how big it had to be to shake loose parts from a very well-fortified airplane such as the Boeing 777?
Really incredible that this even happened in the first place, and incredible that they got back safely. Really, good work.
HILL: It certainly is. As you mentioned, people getting off the plane, I know there were reports from local media, they were cheering as they landed. You said it was a 777. We know it was supposed to be on route to Honolulu.
Do we know how many passengers were on board?
MUNTEAN: I don't think we know that just yet. We're still waiting on official word on that from the airline. It would be the only one who could tell us how many people were on board.
A 777 like this is usually, these flights are packed with people and a 777 is a very large airliner, a wide-bodied airliner. So, not the sort of more narrow body like a 737 with one aisle down the center and typically coach in the back, there are two aisles so usually a 2-3-2 seating configuration.
A lot of people would usually be on board a 777, but we know the pandemic has really decimated air travel right now. So, these flights aren't really operating at sort of the packed level that they were back in 2019 and before the pandemic. But presumably a lot of people on this, although we don't have the official count just yet.
HILL: Pete, I have to tell you, I can't -- we have this image up on the screen, you know, of this front part as you pointed out of what appears to be the part of the engine. I mean, just put this in perspective for us. We're talking about how remarkable this would be, but to land a plane that, from what we know at this point, had lost an engine, right, to land that plane safely with as of now, no injuries.
I believe we're just getting in some live pictures here. This is also of this town just outside Denver, as we look for some of the debris there. I mean, Pete, just put that in perspective for us. Not only the rarity of that, but just how remarkable that would be for the pilot, for the flight crew to do this.
MUNTEAN: You know, 777 is a twin engine jet. Two jet engines, which adds a lot of redundancy. You don't see any single engine jets in commercial airliners but it is much harder to fly on one engine. If the reports that we're hearing of an explosion are accurate, it sounds like you could only fly on one engine at that point.
[16:20:09]
And that's essentially like, if you ever paddled a canoe or a kayak in dragon paddle, it's essentially like flying an airplane with a dragon paddle at one side and only able to paddle with the other side.
So, the plane sort of flies a little sideways and it takes a lot of training to be able to do that properly and to be able to make sure that the airplane sort of doesn't turn into the dead engine and can still fly straight and then also, it's not just in the air, but to do that with the landing.
You know, the conditions are dynamic and so to be able to keep the airplane aligned straight, I'm seeing new video on social media, on Twitter of what looked to be a near perfect landing. Aside from the fact that what looks like the engine was completely inoperable and may have had an explosion of some type on board.
So really good flying by these pilots and a testament to their training. You know, professional flight crews like this train all of the time in simulators and to be a 777 captain and first officer, you have to have a lot of experience to do that. So, it's a testament to how safe commercial air travel is in this modern era.
HILL: Yeah, just such an excellent point, not only the initial training but the continued training that these flight crews go through. We're looking at live pictures now. I don't think you can see this but to give folks tuning in now, if you're just joining us, what you're looking at are some pictures from our affiliate, KMGH, from the chopper, we look at on the ground.
It looks like you can see a yellow police tape. You see a vehicle, presumably from the red vehicle from the fire department, that's because there's debris on the ground, which is presumed to be from this United Airlines flight.
We're going to take a quick break as we gather a little bit more information for you. But stay with us, again, we're with breaking news of broken air debris in a neighborhood, a neighborhood outside of Denver from a United Airlines flight which we're told now landed safely at Denver International Airport.
We'll have the latest for you on the other side of this break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:26:32]
HILL: If you're just joining us now, updating you on the breaking news out of Colorado. So what you're looking at is what is believed to be a piece of a Boeing 777 flight that had left Denver International Airport, bound, we believe, for Honolulu, United Airlines flight, not long into the flight. There were some issues and debris, reports of debris falling in
Broomfield, Colorado, which is just north of Denver, 25 miles east of Denver international airport. The local police department tweeting they first received information about debris falling in different neighborhoods in Broomfield around 1:08 local time. So, that's -- just about an hour and 20 minutes or so ago.
So, now, as we're piecing everything together, what we can tell you is that flight did safely land. How the pilot, the flight crew were able to do that, perhaps nothing short of miraculous as we start to piece together what happened. Again, these are live pictures of the debris in someone's front yard, as you can see there.
CNN's Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean is with us on the phone.
So, Pete, for people who were just joining us, you were telling us what this giant circle in front of the office. You believe that's likely one part of the two engines on the 777.
MUNTEAN: To me, those parts look like part of the engine nacelle. That is the structure around the jet again, and I just now got a statement from the FAA saying that this flight safely returned to Denver International Airport, United Airlines flight.
And we know now specifically the problem in the right engine, failure of the right engine shortly after takeoff and the FAA said it's investigating reports of this debris that rained down on people's yards on the plane's flight path, which also is so interesting in the statement we're just finding out, is that the passengers had been deplaned on the runway. Runway there at Denver and then bussed back to the terminal.
This is really an incredible and such a rare situation in the world of commercial aviation, which is safer than it has ever been. Passengers reported -- oh, sorry -- people on the ground reported hearing a loud boom and then finding all this debris in their yard. Really, hats off to the flight crew here.
The video and photos on social media keep popping of what appears to be this right engine completely torn apart.
I'm a pilot. I've been flying my whole life. I'm a flight instructor. Pilots train and drill almost from the get-go in their training how to deal with an engine failure, and it is not easy, especially when you're confronted with the startle factor of all this.
Given the fact these folks on the ground are reporting a loud boom, can't imagine what this flight crew was going through and how busy they had to be, a busy time, especially, just after taking off, typically, in a commercial airliner, to have to turn back after something like this, and deal with the emergency, really, is a testament to their training and their professionalism as pilots, really something not easy to do.
HILL: No, Pete, you pointed out in that statement you just received from the FAA that they said it was the right engine that failed shortly after takeoff. I mean, just give us a sense. You know, you talk about the intense training that flight crews go through.
[16:30:00]
But if you lose one engine in this massive airliner, if you could, just again, put in perspective for us what it is like for that flight crew, for the pilot, not only to suddenly realize, as you point out, that you have lost an engine, but now you are trying to pilot this aircraft and to land it safely.
It is just a remarkable feat to put it mildly.
MUNTEAN (via telephone): It's very, very tricky. And I've flow in twin engine airplanes, twin engine airplanes like the 777 before. Not during something like this. But, even still, the fundamentals stand.
When you're flying an airplane with two engines and lose one of them -- we're not talking about losing literally one of them in this case -- but the engine fails for some reason, there's a whole set of procedures you have to go through.
And then the physics of the airplane changed dramatically. In a commercial airliner like this, it's still the same as on a lighter airplane with two engines as well.
You're essentially flying with a big dragging -- if you've ever been with a kayak or canoe, a dragging on one side and you can only really turn it into the dead engine. It can be very difficult.
And because of that, the airplane loses a lot of its inherent performance. It can't climb as well. It can't turn as well. It makes it much harder to control.
Commercial airliners are very powerful, And because of the pandemic, it's probably safe to assume that this airplane was not completely full and maybe a bit on the lighter side rather than the heavy/fully loaded. So that would work to the crew's favor very likely.
But have to not only encounter the problem, but figure out the problem, work through it, and follow a certain set of procedures to make sure that the engine is shut off and safe, that it couldn't cause any more potential damage, and then to have to return to the airport is a testament to the crew.
But also the folks on the ground who handled it. The air traffic controllers, I'm sure, as this develops, we're going to hear live air traffic control audio.
And typically, in these cases, the high-stakes, high-risk scary situations for our flight crew, very smooth and calm.
And that's because pilots and flight crews, also the folks in the back and the flight attendants train for things like this and make sure, when it happens, they can deal with it quickly and easily as if it's second nature.
And so -- (CROSSTALK)
HILL: They know exactly how to spring into action.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: Pete, stay with us. I know you're also working a number of your sources as you try to get more information from the airline, the FAA.
We are showing you, for folks tuning in at home here, these are pictures from our affiliate, KMGH. These are pictures, we believe, of Broomfield, Colorado.
This is where the police department they first received reports of debris falling in a number of neighborhoods. That's why we're showing you these aerial pictures as our affiliate obviously trying to get a sense of where there may be some of this debris on the ground.
Stay with us. We're going to take a short break here on CNN, but our live coverage of this breaking news continues right here.
Again, a United Airlines flight, Denver to Honolulu, experiencing, according to the FAA, who tells our Pete Muntean, it safely returned to Denver International Airport after the right engine failed shortly after takeoff, landed safely.
We'll have the very latest for you on the other side of this short break.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:37:57]
HILL: Our breaking news, a massive 777 airliner, operated by United Airlines, of course, making an emergency landing after its right engine failed.
Before that emergency landing, though, huge pieces of debris falling in a neighborhood near Denver. At least one piece landing just inches from a home.
You're looking at these pieces on what appear to be soccer fields. When we pull out to a bigger view there, our affiliate, KMGH, bringing us these pictures.
We can tell you we have been told all passengers are OK. The plane was able to land safely.
Joining us now is CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Mary, always good to have you with us in these moments.
I'm not sure. I'm hoping you've been able to see some of these pieces of debris. Our aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, saying one of them really looked like an engine under a wing that we're used to seeing on a plane.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (via telephone): That's right. This was a catastrophic engine failure. People think that the cowling, the housing around the engine, will contain it but it really won't.
Because an engine coming apart, the shrapnel literally spinning from the engine, and it flies at hundreds of miles an hour, coming apart in the aircraft. Very dangerous. The flight, of course, extremely lucky.
But the real issue will be, how old was the engine, who manufactured the engine.
There was a Boeing 747 that suffered one just a few days ago in Europe. And so they'll be looking to see if there's some sort of systemic issue that can exist on more than one aircraft engine or if this was something related to maintenance.
But, indeed, these are very large pieces. It's not unusual for parts to fall off in an aircraft. It's something we certainly don't want to see.
[16:40:02]
But you know everything from flaps to parts of landing gear, many things have fallen off a plane, but usually not this much of an engine.
HILL: It's also, too, as we look at where this happened. So we are seeing tweets from the Broomfield, Colorado, Police Department. They said their first reports came in around 1:08 of people reporting debris.
There was a sound that people heard. So was it an explosion or a boom? Those are things we're trying to track down at this point.
But the police department saying -- there are several neighborhoods and we're seeing several different areas with these massive pieces of debris.
The fact that, as of this point, the police department is saying there have been no injuries reported is remarkable.
SCHIAVO: It truly is. And of course, part of the credit goes to where the airport is located.
You remember, the old Denver airport was right downtown Denver. It was right over, near next to the city, right over people's heads. And of course, 20 years ago, they moved it to DIA, Denver International.
And that's one of the things you want. When you build a new airport, you want it away from the population. Long runways with no hazards at the end of the runway, long parallel runways.
So part of the credit here goes to the fact that this was not over a major city.
And the other thing that's interesting is most uncontained engine failures do happen on takeoff and climb out.
So if you're going to experience one, it's very fortunate -- it doesn't look fortunate when you look at the pictures. But you're very fortunate this happened on takeoff and they could get back to the airport.
Imagine if they were out over the ocean and had thousands of miles to get back to an airport.
And so lots of fortune and some planning that allowed this to have a good ending.
HILL: Of course, including a safe landing, we're told.
SCHIAVO: Right.
HILL: Passengers, we're told, on the runway and then being bussed in.
I know we're going to get some more details. But, just quickly, before we let you go, on this point, I don't think we can underscore enough, too, just how critical the training and the skill of the flight crew are in here, in this equation.
SCHIAVO: Oh, absolutely. This is something pilots do train for. Whether you fly a single engine, two engine, four engine, you train for an engine out.
But that being said, it's very difficult. Kudos to the pilots for keeping it in the air and under control and making a safe controlled landing.
But it is something they're trained for. And that's why pilots have to have thousands of hours -- well, not by law you don't have to have thousands.
The FAA allows you to have a commercial flight to license for a few hundred hours. But most major carriers, their captains have thousands of hours. And the training matters.
HILL: Certainly does.
And, Mary, as always. Really appreciate your insight, your expertise.
Stay with us, everyone. We follow this breaking news. You're looking, of course, at this debris. Cameras moving around here to get a better look at some of the debris on the ground in Broomfield, Colorado, outside of Denver.
I'm going to speak with an eyewitness to this debris, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:47:33] HILL: We are following breaking news this afternoon. A United Airlines passenger plane, a massive Boeing 777 experiencing what our own aviation expert said looks like catastrophic engine failure.
This is what has been found on the ground. Bits and pieces of what appear to be an engine from that plane.
Now, the plane, United Airlines flight 328, was en route from Denver to Honolulu, turned around after what the FAA tells my colleague, Pete Muntean, was a right engine that failed shortly after takeoff, was able to land safely, back at Denver International Airport.
Which is not too far from Broomfield, Colorado, which is where you're looking at this debris. And there are several sites in the area with debris.
Joining us on the phone is Kieran Cain who took some pictures of the debris. You're looking at one of those photos now.
Kieran, good to have you with us. Glad you're safe.
Just walk us through what happened.
KIERAN CAIN, WITNESS TO FALLING DEBRIS FROM AIRPLANE (via telephone): Yes, thanks, Erica.
It was about an hour ago. I was playing with our two kids at a local elementary school, honestly, on the basketball, just having fun.
An airplane was flying really high overhead and basically what sounded like a sonic boom made everybody look up.
As we did, we could see there was a giant black cloud of smoke high up in the sky, immediately followed by what looked like pieces of the aircraft, really just coming off and basically a shower of things that were falling out of the sky. So immediately, you could see stuff walking down.
Quite hard to get a sense of, you know, how big things were because it was so up.
But after a while, it started to get closer to the ground, you could really see there was giant -- what looked like -- and one, in particular, that was a giant "O" ring that was just plummeting to the ground. And unbelievably, the plane kept going on its own trajectory.
But, yes, basically, just all the stuff started showering down on the neighborhood.
HILL: And so you're exposed, right? So you're at the playground with your kids on a Saturday afternoon like so many families. I imagine you're watching this not only in disbelief.
But there must have been a moment as well -- was there somewhere you could seek shelter? Were you worried this debris was actually coming toward you and your family? [16:50:03]
CAIN: Yes, totally. I mean, after a moment of shock and disbelief, I was like, what the heck was that. And then, is everybody on that plane OK, because it sounded like something exploded.
But when you could see stuff float down, we didn't know what it was. It looked like rubber. It looked like metal. Who knows if there's jet fuel in there?
Luckily enough, we took shelter at a near gazebo at the playground we are at and watched it come down. And we could see, it was really starting to land about two or three blocks, just a few houses over from where we were.
HILL: So that's when you made your way over there. You snapped some of the pictures, which we're showing now.
Were you -- was the homeowner there? Were you able to speak with the folks who live in that house? I'm guessing they're OK.
CAIN: Yes, somehow, unbelievably, they're OK. There was one or two Houses we came over with giant holes in the roof and big pieces of metal.
This looks like a giant circular engine piece that hit top of his R.V., bounced off of his garage and somehow landed on his front porch.
But did get the chance to speak to him. In his words, oh, my gosh, for a couple of minutes there, it was raining metal, were his words, and then, suddenly, this giant thing just landed on his house.
HILL: As you made your way over there, you said the first responders in town were not very far behind you.
What else did you see as you walked over there and what did they say to you?
CAIN: Totally. We saw the incident go down. I immediately called 9/11 and said, this is an area where stuff is falling. As soon as I hung up the phone, there were sirens, so they were there right away.
On this one particular street, when I took these photos, literally, every 10 feet, there was a giant piece of metal. Looks like pieces of wing. The type of things you might see on an airplane with instructions on it you might see on door of an aircraft.
But it was certainly not contained to the one street. Since we've been here, the first responders are cordoning off with tape streets in the area.
There's a giant park right across the street they've just put police tape all the way around.
(CROSSTALK) CAIN: So literally, the spread of the debris is going on for several block radius. And, yes, there's just stuff. The ground is littered with all kinds of different pieces of junk.
HILL: Which is amazing and just giant pieces at that.
I don't know if your power lines are aboveground or not in Broomfield, but if they are, did you see any downed power lines?
Did anything appear to be -- you mentioned the one piece of debris we kept seeing that bounced, you said the homeowner, bounced off of his R.V., in his word.
Did you see anything else sort of stuck in trees or any way that may also be cause for a neighborhood to be sectioned off just from a safety perspective as well?
CAIN: Well, I think one thing we did see, Erica, I like to point out, there's been a couple looking out for the neighborhood. Told people not to touch the debris.
We see people trying to pick up pieces and take photos. Instantly, the first responders told them not to do that because they don't know what's on there and if it's safe. Even heard one first responder says these are not souvenirs.
So it's more about, besides the debris, anything from maybe the size of a quarter, up, to pieces two to six feet in length. And obviously, the big circular engine thing we've seen. But all kinds of different debris and materials.
Other than the holes we've seen in some roofs and stuff falling on cars and houses, nothing else besides that. But it's really hard, honestly, to get a good sense of it because it's spread over so many houses and streets.
HILL: Yes, it's just amazing the size as we're going to learn of this debris field in the town.
Do you know -- I know you were saying areas are being cordoned off. First responders putting up that caution tape to keep people out.
Have they evacuated any area you're aware of?
CAIN: We were here on the main street we're on right now where it seems like a lot of activity is, Elmwood in Broomfield, Colorado on one street.
We witnessed they were going house to house doing searching to make sure people were OK. I didn't hear anyone as they reported back.
One of the houses with a giant hole in its roof, some piece of metal fell into that family's attic. And luckily, nobody was in the house at the time it appears.
So despite there being a bunch of ambulances and things like that, luckily, we have luckily not seen anyone actually being impacted or injured.
HILL: That is good news, as you point out. Wow. What a day.
[16:55:01]
Kieran Cain, really appreciate you taking the time to be with us.
I'm just curious. You mentioned you were with your kids. How are they doing after seeing all of this?
CAIN: They're doing OK. It's the last thing you expect to see at the local playground.
And there's a massive, kind of like a sonic boom in the sky, which would rattle anybody. First of all, just the sound of it.
But once you started seeing stuff fall down, quite significant pieces out of the sky, their immediate reactions and immediate thoughts are, is everybody OK on the airplane.
The surprise I had is something could make a noise like that and giant pieces off the plane and then continue on its trajectory like nothing happened.
So, hopefully, everybody is doing OK on the airplane.
HILL: To your point, I want to tell what we've learned, and maybe you can pass on to your kids as well, who clearly have their hearts in the right place, when we hear their initial reaction, my colleague, our aviation correspondent told by the FAA, they did land safely. They're alright.
For folks just joining us, we're talking about what is happening just outside of Denver, in Broomfield, Colorado.
We are looking at pictures of airline debris in the front yard of homes and across this town after United Airlines flight 328, a Boeing 777, had a right engine failure, according to the FAA, shortly after takeoff.
This flight was scheduled to go from Denver to Honolulu today, turned around, and the pilot and flight crew was able to land the aircraft safely back at Denver International Airport, which is about 25 miles away, as I understand it, from this town, Broomfield, Colorado, outside of Denver.
CAIN: Thank you very much.
HILL: Yes.
The flight landed safely. Passengers were able to deplane. Some of reporting, they were cheering, understandably, as the plane landed. They were deplaned, we're told by our aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean. They deplaned on the runway and then took a bus in.
What we know so far from the FAA is that there was a failure in the right engine and that is what caused the issue shortly after takeoff. Again, it did safely return.
We were just listening to Kieran Cain, who was at a playground in Broomfield with his kids, 11 and 8-year-olds, when they heard a sonic boom, in his words, and then saw a giant black cloud of smoke.
And, all of a sudden, this shower, is the way he described it, falling from the sky that appeared to be plane parts. And he said, as they got closer, that's when they could see really what they were.
He and his family took shelter under a gazebo in that park in that nearby playground where they were and then made their way a couple of blocks over to see some of the debris.
He actually took a picture. I'm not sure if we can put it up. This picture that Kieran Cain took of some of the debris in the front yard.
He said he spoke with the homeowner who said that giant ring that you see, which we believe what's called the engine nacelle, part of that, possibly the right engine.
The homeowner said that bounced off of his R.V., ultimately landing -- you see it there -- basically on his front stoop. He says he's OK. The family is OK.
Again, Kieran Cain, who took this picture, said first responders were on the scene almost immediately. He said he called 9/11. He heard sirens behind him immediately. And he did see officers going door to door making sure that people were OK, checking on homes.
And we -- I believe, are going to go now to a press conference.
Let's listen in.
RACHEL WELTE, SPOKESWOMAN, BROOMFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: The neighborhood, which isn't far from here, just here to my left. So we started to get reports.
We dispatched police officers and within minutes, we were on scene of some of these homes and we actually saw some of these large pieces of debris, which you're seeing circulate on social media.
Remarkably, we have had no injuries reported yet. So considering how nice the weather is today, compared to last weekend, the amount of debris and how far it stretches -- the dog park is here and the turf field behind me -- and we have had no reports of any injuries.
The biggest thing right now is we are now securing the scene and all of the debris for the NTSB. They dispatched a team to this area.
We're asking people, because the debris was so far and wide, if you find debris in your home, near your home, in your neighborhood, please don't touch it. Please don't move it. Just leave it there.
Call dispatch. You can call 303-438-6400 or 911 if it's an emergency. Let us know, because we're trying to get an idea of how far this debris field is. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are some of the reports you've been
hearing from folks on the ground?
WELTE: We have a lot of people coming by right now. And mostly was the sound. A lot of people say they heard the really loud explosion, which startled a lot of people.
And then they just started seeing basically what they thought was the plane falling from the sky. What it was, was debris.
[17:00:02]
It's hard to determine exactly what it is. I did kind of comb through, taking a look at some of the debris. It looks like possibly some exterior pieces of the plane.
