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Broomfield Police Department Spokeswoman Gives Press Conference; Audio Of Mayday Call From Plane That Experienced Engine Failure; NTSB Opens Formal Investigation Into United Flight That Experienced Engine Failure; CNN On The Ground At Debris Field In Broomfield. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired February 20, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:02]
RACHEL WELTE, SPOKESWOMAN, BROOMFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: 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.
But people then just started calling us and said there's basically a plane falling from the sky. There were reports of smoke and possibly some flames. But we did hear reports that the plane has landed safely at DIA, and so we're thankful for that.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)?
WELTE: I cannot confirm at this point if it was a commercial plane or not, but the video that we've seen out on social media and what people have been telling us is it was a rather large passenger plane.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) discovering such a large area. How long does an investigation like this take? What kind of impact is it going to have on the people who live (ph) around here?
WELTE: Yes. So I can't say specifically how long the investigation will take. The NTSB will determine that. But I will tell you, the amount of crime scene tape in the area that we're trying to secure is very unprecedented for us. We're trying to make sure that we have as much of the debris enclosed as possible so we can keep it intact for the NTSB.
And so we have officers across not just Commons Park but Northmoor and Red Leaf. As you can see, we have crime tapes everywhere.
And so this is a pretty extensive project and we'll stay here to help the NTSB as long as possible to secure the area but I'm guessing it's going to be quite a while.
REPORTER: Forgive me if you've already covered this. I apologize.
WELTE: It's okay.
REPORTER: But have you gotten the reports of the damage to homes specifically on the debris coming down to roofs, something like that? WELTE: I have heard reports that there were some homes that were damaged. The extent of that damage, I have not been able to narrow down at this point. So there are reports of that. It looks like some of the biggest pieces came down in the Northmoor area near 13th and Elm Wood.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) spread out scene and some (INAUDIBLE). Is it a miracle nobody was injured thus far?
WELTE: Yes, I'm honestly shocked looking at this debris field and how busy Commons Park is. This is a popular spot in Broomfield. We have the dog park. We have the turf field. There're playgrounds. This park on a day like today when it's not cold as it was last weekend, we could have hundreds of people here. And the fact that we are still not getting reports of any injuries is absolutely shocking at this point. It's amazing.
REPORTER: Are you running into problems of people trying to go and touch the debris?
WELTE: Yes, we have seen people actually touching and picking up the debris on social media. We've had people that are wanting to get close, of course, and examine it. A lot of curiosity, that's understandable, this is a big deal, but we're just asking people, please leave it in place. Let us know. Again, they can call 303-438- 6400. Let our dispatchers know and we will make sure.
We did actually also sent out a code red alert, which is our emergency notification system in Broomfield, to about 1,400 residents around this vicinity, just letting them know once again, please don't touch the debris. We want to keep it intact for the NTSB.
REPORTER: On a personal level, on that kind of emotional level, when you first started hearing reports that either a plane had crashed or something was falling from the sky, what was going through your agency and yourself personally?
WELTE: Yes. Actually, I'm a Broomfield resident. I live and work in Broomfield and I was actually out running errands. A family member actually called me first and said that they heard the explosion. And, honestly, within seconds, my work phone started ringing and by the time I was able to look at social media and see some of the photos that were coming, my heart dropped. And when I saw some of the sizes of the pieces, I thought, oh, my goodness, we're going to have injuries or much more extensive damage.
And, thankfully, like I said, at this point in time, we have not heard of any extensive injuries or any at all.
REPORTER: Do you think this whole thing could have been a lot worse in this area?
WELTE: Yes, exactly. It could have been. We could have had people at the dog park with their kids playing soccer. Even weekends in the summertime and the spring, when we have hundreds, thousands of kids on this turf field because we have soccer going and because of COVID right now and it's still wintertime, we don't have a lot of the athletic fields either open or a lot of the teams are playing. But during a summer day, you see thousands of kids out on these turf fields.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) what happens now? NTSB, FBI, what comes up now?
WELTE: Yes. So we'll secure the area, take initial witness statements from people that have debris in their yard and then we will eventually turn the investigation over to the NTSB and they'll determine what happened. So, really, we're just going to assist them from this point on. Any information that our dispatchers gathered, we'll make sure we provide that to them and then, of course, we'll work in conjunction with them to help them with whatever we need.
REPORTER: Are you guys the only municipality that's having a response like this or is it (INAUDIBLE) around at the entire metro area?
WELTE: Yes. You know what, I don't know if any other municipalities.
[17:05:01]
I can say that I've been in contact with other public information officers from other departments in the area and I have not heard from them if they have experienced any debris. So, as far as I know, Broomfield was the only area that was impacted.
OK, anything else, guys? All right, if you guys don't think you'll need anything, anymore sound from me, then I'll probably head out from this area in a little bit. But --
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST (voice over): You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill in New York in for Ana Cabrera. And we are following this breaking news right now, a terrifying scene in residential neighborhood outside of Denver.
You're looking at pictures of Broomfield, Colorado, and the house that you see on your screen right now, if you'll look through that tree, you'll see a giant ring. That is a piece of a commercial airline, a Boeing 777 in the front yard of this Colorado home. In fact, it's just one of several pieces, massive debris field, details still coming in.
Here is what we can tell you right now. United Airlines Flight 328, which was taking off from Denver International Airport, the FAA says that it suffered a right engine failure shortly after takeoff, was en route to Honolulu and was able to turn around and land safely. But in that ensuing time, pieces of debris from the plane falling on to several residential streets.
We spoke with the gentleman who saw and heard what happened. He described what he heard as a sonic boom and then said he saw a black cloud of smoke and all of a sudden, things started to drop from the sky. He realized eventually it was debris, took his children.
He was at the playground with them, ages 11 and 8, took cover under a gazebo and then, ultimately, made his way up a couple of blocks away to that house where he just saw the giant ring in front of him, took some of pictures, spoke with the homeowner who told him that debris bounced off of the R.V. in his driveway, ultimately landing in his front yard.
We just heard from the spokeswoman for the Broomfield Police Department, the town where all of this is happening, she said she is shocked there have been no reports of injuries thus far. It's a beautiful day in the area. She said it's much nicer than it was last week. It's a lot of people out and about. This is in a neighborhood, the debris landing in neighborhoods, which are close to what she said, a dog park, turf field, playgrounds, a lot of people out today.
And just to give you a sense of how big the debris field is, we can tell you this. They don't know yet just how big it is but the spokeswoman for the police department saying they're using an unprecedented amount of crime scene tape because they want to keep all of this contained.
The NTSB, she says, has dispatched a team. They want to make sure that this area is cordoned off and it's ready for those NTSB investigators. They don't want people picking up or touching the debris, obviously, as they're going to need to piece all of this together.
I want to bring in our CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean, as well as CNN Aviation Analyst Mary Schiavo who's on the phone with us.
So, Pete, as we look at those images and what we just heard from the spokeswoman from the police department, what more have we learned about what happened?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: What a stroke of luck here. I mean, when you hear from the police department there in Broomfield that nobody was on the soccer fields there and that this debris that rained down from this United Airlines Flight 328, this Boeing 777, that had just taken off, according to the FAA from Denver International Airport, it was bound for Honolulu.
And neighbors tell us from on the ground that they heard this explosion and then debris started coming down in their yards. You can see some of this here right now in this soccer field. But we've also seen in people's front yards, that looks like pieces of the engine to me, and that would match up. The FAA said the problem was with the right engine of the plane before it had returned back to Denver International Airport.
What we're learning here is a story that will play out that was remarkable flying by this very professional flight crew, aided by air traffic control, so remarkable. This is the first time I'm actually seeing this image. And you could see the circular part in this person's front yard here of his home, that looks to me like the very first portion of the engine nacelle.
And so when you hear neighbors talking about a loud boom, you have to wonder about the force of that boom that took place potentially in that right engine to knock these parts loose, very well fortified, very highly engineered airplane and then having to fly it back. Gosh, I mean, really good flying by this flight crew and good coordination by their folks in the front and of the back and their traffic control to do this successfully. It was definitely not an easy job.
HILL (voice over): Yes, no, I'm sure it wasn't. And, Mary, we did hear that the plane landed safely. All the passengers were able to get off. But just based on two, on these images that we're seeing that are coming out, what does it tell you about the severity of this emergency and just how challenging those moments must have been for the pilot, for the flight crew?
[17:10:10]
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (voice over): Well, terribly, severe events. There are a lot of uncontained engine failures. There was one in Europe a few days ago, but they don't destroy the engine like this. So it was a very, very catastrophic event, very serious, could have been much worse.
Because when an engine like this comes apart, of course, there are pieces that could pierce the fuel tank. I've worked cases in the past where it pierced the hydraulic lines, where it damaged other parts of the plane, in some cases, where the debris even came into the aircraft. And so they're lucky that that didn't happen.
So it's terribly serious event and it is difficult to fly. I mean, you're trained in flight school. I only had an engine out -- single engine, one, and it is a very scary event. It's hard to do it. You get one shot at landing. You can't do a go-around usually and come in again with just one engine.
But there's an important thing to note and that the briefings by the police have said this, is that to leave the parts where they are, because some of the cases similar to this I've worked in the past, the NTSB has got to prepare a grid.
They are going to want to know what part fell where because they're going to piece together what happened with this engine. Was this a flaw, for example, in the combustion line of this jet engine, which is the line or that holds the fuel and the high temperatures inside or was it something else? And so what they will do is they'll form a grid and they'll want to know what came off first, what came off next, et cetera.
And the other reason they don't want people to touch it is, as this engine comes apart, there's a lot of hazmat fluid, there's obviously jet fuel, there's hydraulic fluid, there are a number of things and people really don't want to touch that, they don't want their children to touch it. So the NTSB will need to know where they fell and that they're in the condition in which they fell.
HILL (voice over): Pete, you're also an experienced pilot. You're a flight a instruction, as you told us earlier. One of the things that stood out to me, as we just started to cover this in just about an hour ago was you were talking about, you're prepared, maybe you trained to lose an engine. But if parts of that start to fall, if you feel perhaps parts of your engine falling off of your plane, to then have to basically counteract and deal with a new set of physics, and as you're trying to safely land this aircraft and all of those on board, just walk us through that challenge.
MUNTEAN: Not just the physics, Erica, but just the sheer startle factor of what is taking place. And it takes even a very primed professional pilot mind a moment to realize exactly what is happening and then to start running through the procedures of, okay, we have lost the engine, now we need to make sure the engine is completely shut down so it doesn't cause more damage, then the airplane is now flying completely differently.
If you've ever -- the analogy I like to lean into here is if you've ever been on a row boat or a canoe or a kayak and you drag one paddle and kept the other one out of the water, the boat will want to veer very severely into the side of the paddle that's dead. That's exactly what happens in a twin engine airplane, like the Boeing 777 here, and it creates a very big challenge for the flight crew.
In some cases, it can be particularly hard to control an airplane on one engine. Not only have you lost 50 percent of the available performance of the airplane, again, two engines, so you've lost 50 percent of the power, but in some cases, because the airplane essentially now has to fly canted sideways, you'll lose even more possible performance at your disposal to try and climb the airplane, usually that doesn't happen as easily, and it's definitely much harder to turn.
So to get this airplane off the ground, this was just after takeoff, which is typically a very high workload time for a flight group, and then to turn it back and then to line it up with the runway that you just took off on, and not to mention just the scary part of trying to sort of figure this out, is really -- I mean, hats off to the crew.
I think also here, you have to thank the flight attendants and the air traffic controllers because there's a lot of coordination that takes place, especially in a high-pressure scenario like this to make sure that this goes off without a hitch. And we've been seeing photos and video of this plane landing successfully and the crew applauding -- sorry, the passengers applauding, what a relief.
And, especially, think about if you were in the back, if you were in a row, a beam, the right-wing there, where you can see the engine. I mean, anyone listening at home, watching at home, been on a commercial airline, you can see the engine out there, and then to see it blown into pieces.
[17:15:05]
Think about just the sheer scary image of having to experience someone flying on board.
So it's really incredible what has taken place here, not only from the flying part of it but also just the fact that this even happened. It's really remarkable.
HILL (voice over): You're absolutely right. And to your point, the coordination, the discussions with air traffic control.
Stay with us, everyone. We're actually going to hear the mayday call from the pilot. That is just ahead. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: If you're just joining us, we are following breaking news out of the Denver, Colorado, area and we now have audio of the moment that United Airlines pilot issued a mayday call with air traffic control after experiencing engine failure shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport earlier today. Take a listen.
[17:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, United 328, heavy mayday, mayday aircraft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 382 (INAUDIBLE) again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Departure United 328, heavy mayday aircraft, just experienced engine failure. Need to return immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Heavy failure, need to return immediately. CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean is with us. The calm in the pilot's voice, I think, may put everybody at ease who's watching right now. I know that a s a pilot, he is training for just about any scenario, but still, this is really something.
MUNTEAN: Even the newest pilots, really, from the outset of their training, start by working through how to fly an airplane one or no engines. But it is especially different when it actually occurs. It is something that is very hard to replicate and you hear the calm in the radio call of this flight crew that really speaks to their professionalism. They were prepared for this. They were ready for this. But even the air traffic controller said, excuse me, because this is something that does not occur very often in aviation.
I was just looking at some of the flight radar tracks of this flight that made it up to only 13,000 feet. We know from the FAA that this occurred right after takeoff and the crew you heard there asked for an immediate turn back to the airport. So this is something that's very, very severe.
I mean, the fact that you're seeing these images of the airplane, the engine, the right engine, according to the FAA, that essentially just blew up and rained debris down in yards of homes near in Broomfield, Colorado. You could see the circular piece next to that R.V. in front of the home there, that's what looks to be part of the engine nacelle, the cowling, the exterior structure of that right engine, and it speaks to the force of what happened here. Neighbors heard a loud boom, reported hearing a loud boom.
So for an uncontained engine failure like this is incredibly rare, but this one, apparently, incredibly forceful. And you hear even in spite of the fact that there was a boom and an explosion, these pilots sprang into action, knew what they were supposed to do and got the airplane back on the ground safely.
I just heard from United Airlines, 231 people on board, including ten crew, what almost a miracle that is to bring this airplane back, to fly on one engine is something that flight crews trained for and drill for all the time in simulator training and beyond that.
So to experience this, to be confronted with this is not something that they are unprepared for, but to this degree, wow, that is not necessarily something that you can prepare for.
HILL (voice over): Yes. I keep thinking back to and perhaps because I was covering it at the time, but the miracle on the Hudson, and as everybody was watching that and we know that was the result of birds. But when we look at happened here, we don't yet know what happened to this engine. Do we have any more information on what may have caused the engine failure? Because as you point out, it happened very quickly after takeoff.
MUNTEAN: Not necessarily. I mean, we will find out soon enough. And the good news, in a way here, the silver lining, is that there's so much forensic evidence that the NTSB and the FAA can pore through. You heard the chief of the Broomfield Police Department saying to folks, do not touch this. Not only is it a danger to you because there could be contaminants, fluids, fuel, et cetera in the area, but it is something that is so key to this investigation.
So this is something that the NTSB will really hone in on, just the fact that there is all of this across this town and then some, to be able to say, they will be able to say, I'm sure, that the engine failure occurred exactly at this point, they will be able to look at the prevailing winds at the time, all the other conditions to say, we know when it occurred and why the debris went here and why it went there.
All of the -- even the placement, the physical placement of this geographically will be clues to these investigators to make it so that they can really, truly piece this together by all of the pieces that are on the ground.
HILL: And speaking of all the pieces, I have to say one thing that stood out from this press briefing they had a short time ago from the Broomfield Police Department was the spokeswoman saying, they have been using an unprecedented amount of crime scene tape to keep these debris fields contained, which just gives you a sense of how large it is. And they're still not even sure how large the debris field is because that is one of the things, obviously, they're still piecing together.
Pete, stay with us. We're going to have much more on our breaking news. We are learning more about the debris that fell in these neighborhoods, as you're seeing in Broomfield, just outside of Denver, Colorado.
[17:25:06]
That is on the other side of this break. Don't go far. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Just about half past the hour now, we continue with our breaking news out of the Denver, Colorado area, United Airlines flight losing control of its right engine shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport. We could tell you, everyone who was on board that plane, 241 people is safe. The plane though, on its way back to the airport, dropping massive chunks of debris and some of it, you can see in these images from our affiliate, KMGH.
[17:30:01]
It's hard to see here, but if we stay on the shot, you can see behind the trees, you see a large circular object in front of the house with the green roof on the right-hand side of your screen, what appears to be a massive part of an engine.
There you see it. A picture from the ground of that piece of debris, in front of that same house.
We also now have the audio of the moment that the pilot of United Airlines flight 328 issued a Mayday call. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
PILOT: Mayday, Mayday. United 328, heavy Mayday. Mayday aircraft.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: United 328, can you read out again?
PILOT: Denver, departure United 328, heavy Mayday aircraft. Just experienced an engine failure. Need to return immediately.
(END AUDIO FEED)
HILL: Engine failure. Heavy Mayday. Need to return immediately.
CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo, is back with us now.
Mary, as you listen to the Mayday call from the pilot, so calm, I have to say, what's your reaction?
SCHIAVO (via telephone): I agree with what you and the other commenter have said. Totally in command and control.
And it's amazing how many times I've had to listen to CVRs in my work over the years. And pilots are like that. They're trained to do that. They're trained to fly their aircraft even in the worst situations and remain in control and calm.
And the Mayday, of course, is an important signal. It lets air traffic controllers know they have to clear the airspace, do everything that this aircraft needs, and it's clear they did that.
There have been cases in the past where -- and it wasn't with U.S. carriers -- but carriers in trouble had not used the right language, had not asked for the emergencies, had not asked from the clearance and everything they needed, and there wasn't such a good result in those cases.
But here, they got what they needed. The air traffic control accommodated them. They got all the clearances back to the airport. And just very fortunate it ended as it did.
Because when an engine come apart like this -- and now there's video circulating on the Internet from inside the cabin -- and the engine was, I hate to say on fire, it was still burning fuel, let's put it that way.
That's what the jet engine is supposed to do. But it's supposed to be contained within the combustion liner.
But you could see that the engine continued to burn the fuel, undoubtedly, the pilot discharged what they call the fire bottles and equipment to put out the flames.
But it could have been a much worse result, especially if any of this debris had pierced the fuel tank in the wings or the cabin.
So good things all the way around. And that communication is exactly what they were supposed to do.
HILL: Mary, as we look at -- you're on the phone with us right now.
SCHIAVO: Yes.
HILL: We're showing pictures from our affiliates, the debris on the ground here, roped off in that crime scene tape.
You're a pilot, for folks at home who don't know, and also former inspector general for the Department of Transportation.
These are all, these debris fields, right, not only need to be contained because for safety's sake, but also, this is an important part of the investigation.
The NTSB team has been dispatched, we were told, by local police. What will that first order of business be for the team when they arrive on scene? What will they work on today, especially before nightfall?
SCHIAVO: Before they even get on the ground there, they're doing something very important and collecting all the information about this engine.
Who was the manufacturer? Is it G.E. or a Pratt and Whitney? Those are the two most likely engines. Have there been any similar incidents?
So what they're going to do is look for any flaws, for example, in manufacturing. Was there a flaw in the metallurgy or a problem that's been developing? They look for trend analysis.
They will also be collecting -- they're already doing this -- collecting all of the maintenance records. They're all electronic now.
When did this engine with maintenance? What did they do it? Where did they work on it? When was the last time it had a heavy overhaul? Are there any new parts?
They're going to draw heavily on their trend analysis and the maintenance records to see.
And they're already doing that. They don't even have to get on the ground to do that.
And once they're on the ground, how, in the order of which this fell, will give them a clue, they hope, as to what happened first.
And I've worked cases in the past where the clue as to what went wrong was contained in a piece as tiny as a thumbnail, for example. So that's why the officials don't want people to remove anything.
But again, this is a modern plane and the plane has already -- the flight data recorder, that information from the engine as to what was going wrong. And many, many parameters recorded as to what happened on this engine.
[17:35:01]
So the investigators will have a lot of clues.
HILL: Already, as you pointed out, at work, really.
As always, Mary, thank you as always.
Our breaking news, if you're just joining us, a United Airlines flight, losing control of its right engine shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport.
This happened just a couple of hours ago. Debris, massive in size, in some areas, others, small, falling on neighborhoods outside of Denver.
The very latest after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: This just into CNN. We've learned the National Transportation Safety Board has opened a formal information into, a quote, "engine event" aboard that United Airline flight over Denver.
Now we know that engine event was an engine failure. Debris dropped near homes into a park in Broomfield, Colorado, which is outside of Denver.
CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, is back with us.
[17:39:59]
So, Pete, now that we have this official investigation, what does that change in terms of resources?
MUNTEAN: It does change a lot. The NTSB is really not traveling to many aircraft accidents right now because of the pandemic. So the fact that they are going to this really shows how significant
this incident really is and you know the investigators are going to zero in on a few things.
It's so obvious this was a problem with the engine.
And you talk about an engine failure. There's two different types. There's a contained engine failure, which is parts of the engine don't exit the actual structure around it, called the nacelle or the cowling. This would be referred to as an uncontained engine failure.
So we see this debris field of parts, Kevlar-composite metal, aluminum across Broomfield, Colorado. And this is all going to be really key to investigators for them to be able to literally piece this back together and say exactly what went wrong here.
Uncontained failures of a jet engine are very, very rare. But when they happen, they happen in a big way, though, typically, not as big as this.
You could see the force of that boom that neighbors heard on the ground. Knocked loose huge parts of the engine. That's the front of the engine cowling or nacelle, the very front of the very fast and very hot parts of the turbine jet engine.
And when that does happen, that creates a very big problem for the flight crew.
Not only would they have to deal with tamping down their emotions of having just the sheer startle factor of hearing that but having to run through the procedures they drill for over and under again.
Though, typically, not confronted in a professional flying environment with uncontained engine failure as this. This is very rare, a hard situation to deal with.
You have to keep your wits about you and you have to be able to continue to fly the airplane straight.
I'm a flight instructor. Flown multi-engine planes before, nothing big as this.
But when you lose configuration, it makes the airplane essentially want to fly, canter off to the side, fly a little sideways. Like dragging a boat or on a rowboat. It's really hard to turn against the direction of the dead oar.
So the NTSB has their work cut out for them.
The work that was really, really good here was that by the flight crew and the air traffic controllers and the flight attendants, all who had to work together to make this happen.
HILL: Pete --
MUNTEAN: Go ahead. HILL: I'm going to ask, because I'm fascinated by, to your point, the
incredible work of the pilot, the flight crew, the folks on the ground at air traffic control.
But as you point out, when that engine goes, you're trained as a pilot, if you're flying a twin-engine plane like this, how to handle it.
That being said, how is it different when it's a contained versus an uncontained, as you point out, engine failure here?
It's not just the plane might start to tilt a little bit as you were pointing out but are there things that happen from a mechanical level as well, things that kick in or don't when that happens.
MUNTEAN: I've reported on things like this in the past. Here locally, in the D.C. area, a flight taking off from Dulles had what's called a compressor stall. That produces a similar instance like this where it's a loud boom and a big backfire from the engine. Although it didn't blow parts off of it like this.
But the force of that is enough to really -- if you were in the back, if you were a passenger, knock the coffee out of your cup. It is not something that is gentle in the least. It can be pretty violent.
So it would be pretty obvious to the flight crew that something happened here. Exactly what, they have to run through that, the possible scenarios.
And when they finally do come to the realization that it's uncontained engine failed, it's hard. Not only make sure it's operating, starve of fuel, and then continue to fly the airplane.
One of the things you realize running through this rote procedure, a flow checklist, something the airlines drove their pilots on to make sure they can do this right away. That it is something that's almost automatic.
Although, when you're confronted with the real thing, it can be a bit harder to do. Professional pilots practice for it all the time.
But the fact the airplane flies so differently, it makes it really hard to turn back to the airport.
You hear the ATC audio earlier, the air traffic control audio, where the flight crew sounds relatively calm, although, things sound a bit more tense than usual.
And they say, "Mayday, Mayday, United 328 heavy." Again, it's a large airplane flying, 777 like this. "Uncontained engine failure, we need to return to the airport, need an immediate return.
[17:45:09]
So they knew there was a problem and they knew they needed to get this airplane on the ground right now. HILL: And they did, and they did, right?
Pete, stay with us.
We're getting some more information on our breaking news. This plane debris -- you see pictures of it here -- falling in Broomfield, Colorado, just outside of Denver.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Welcome back. CNN is now on the ground where debris from that massive Boeing 777 fell in a neighborhood outside Denver.
[17:50:04]
CNN's Lucy Kafanov joining me on the phone.
Lucy, you're there on the scene. What are you seeing?
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hey, Erica. This is such a surreal scene.
I'm standing several houses away from that one house where the round piece of debris that seemed to be part of an engine dropped right in front of the house. No one was hurt actually, thankfully.
Everywhere I look, I can see yellow police tape, "do not cross" tape. There are police cars with sirens flashing -- the lights flashing.
And in a very surreal sort of thing, you see the families walking around. Because this is an area right next no dog park, next to a massive soccer field.
The weather is quite good here in Denver, unlike last weekend. So a lot of folks were out and about with families, with their dogs playing, enjoying the nice weather when this happened.
From what we understand, this was United flight 328, a Boeing 77 aircraft, over 231 passengers and 10 crew members were on board, according to United. That plane was taking off from Denver International Airport, bound for Honolulu.
There was a Mayday call, seeming within roughly five minutes of takeoff. The FAA said it suffered a right engine failure after takeoff. It turned around.
And during that time, that's when eyewitnesses reported hearing something like an explosion or a sonic boom. And that's when they started seeing pieces of debris raining down from the sky.
I can tell you, even driving up here, walking around here, you see pieces of debris on the ground. It's not clear what parts of the airplane it is. But it's definitely pieces of metal that came from that aircraft. Police here telling folks to not touch anything. They are
investigating what happened here. The NTSB is going to be taking over the investigation.
But right now, people are sort of walking around in a bit of a daze. There's an early calm mood here. People are trying to sort of grasp what it is that happened here.
But, again, no injuries reported as of now. It's quite miraculous.
And in some ways, COVID may have been a blessing in disguise. Because in a normal time period, this is an area where kids would have been playing soccer, where a lot more people may have been on the streets.
The one block from where I'm standing, where the house was where the piece of engine or plane landed, is the massive soccer field where, normally, in the summertime, you see thousands of people out here.
But, yes, a lot of police, a lot of "do not cross" tape. The Broomfield Police Department spokeswoman said they have used an unprecedented amount of tape to try to cordon off the investigation areas.
They don't know the extent of how large the investigation area is, how large this debris field is. They're still looking into that, asking folks to call in with anything they may have seen.
They're telling people that if something landed near you, on your property, your house, please do not touch it. It could be a hazard. Investigators need to be called on the scene to catalog all of the pieces and figure out exactly what happened to the flight.
But, again, 241 people in total landed safely, according to the FAA, according to United Airlines. And they have deplaned, as far as we understand.
But right now, where I am," a lot of locals, a lot of families, a lot of police trying to grasp what happened here -- Erica?
HILL: Yes, it is -- it is -- I think you used the word surreal. That's how it feels from New York. I can only imagine on the ground in Broomfield.
Quickly, before we let you go, the gentleman who took a picture, who had been at the park with his kids, of the massive ring in front of a house, as he was walking over, he did see metal sticking out of other houses.
Did you see anything to that effect? Anything popping out of a roof or in a car?
KAFANOV: Nothing popping out of a roof or a car. But I can tell you, when we were parking the car, I took a minute to take out the phone, and a neighbor said there's a piece of debris next to you.
It's literally everywhere you look, there are the smaller pieces. Also on the soccer field, as we drove by, there was something very,
very large, a large piece of white metal. I don't know what part of the airplane that was. But it's definitely all around.
And this is a very freshly created scene. So a lot of things may be on the ground that haven't been marked off by the police tape yet.
HILL: Yes, to your point, that extensive debris field, an unprecedented amount of a crime scene tie tape, as you point out.
The Broomfield police also telling us earlier they haven't heard from other jurisdictions and towns about debris being there. But as Lucy pointed out there on the ground, we don't know the full size or extent of this debris field.
That's one of the things, obviously, they're going to be piecing together in the later hours throughout the day.
Now the NTSB now opening an official investigation as we know.
Again, just to recap for you, flight 328, Denver to Honolulu, did not make it very far, turning around because the right engine failure, returning to Denver International Airport.
[17:55:05]
All 241 souls onboard deplaning. They're OK. No injuries. No injuries on the ground. Although, a massive debris field.
Our coverage of this breaking news on CNN continues with my colleague, Pamela Brown.
Stay with us.
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