It is commendable that despite the plane’s engine being on fire, the United Airlines Flight 328 crewmembers were able to maintain their cool while they safely landed a Boeing 777 plane back on land with 241 passengers and crewmembers onboard.

The day started like any other day at the Denver International Airport (DIA) with folks waiting to go on their trip to fun in the sun in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Folks were looking at the flight ticket making sure they were at the right gate because Gate 1A and 11A are confusing sometimes. Then there were them over there who were checking their carry-on bags in order to make sure they brought that thing they always bring, while others were checking their pocket books and wallets to make sure they had enough credit cards on hand. Just another day at the airport, is what it was.

The flight crew came walking by with the captain leading the way. The lady at the desk came up and told everybody to board. First, the sick, the elderly, woman and children, and then the first class, middle class, and broke class. Everybody got on the plane, put their little carry on in front of the seat, sat down, turned off their cell phones, buckled up and got ready for takeoff.

But what nobody knew was that the plane’s right engine was having a very bad day. And as a result of the bad day the plane’s right engine was having, it decided to act up.

Folks were sitting in their seats, some next to the window, looking out at the clouds, and chit chatting on their phones. When in about 30 some minutes or so into the flight, they hear a loud BOOM. “What the hell?!” “Oh my, God! What was that?!” “Must’ve been a flock of birds, are just some of the initial reactions folks more than likely had.” When they looked out the window, they saw the plane’s engine was on fire. The butterflies in their stomachs started to pop up. They were like, “Oh Lawd, don’t call me home yet.”

One fellow told the Denver Post folks that seeing the plane’s engine on fire made him think he was a goner for sure. “I can honestly say I thought we were going to die at one point-because we started dropping altitude right after the explosion. I grabbed my wife’s hand and said, ‘We’re done,’” is what David Delucia of Fort Lauderdale, Florida told the Denver Post folks.

While everybody else was praying and texting their love ones their final goodbyes, the flight crew was as cool as a cucumber. They held ol’ girl steady and then got on the radio and called the Denver International Airport (DIA) air traffic controller. “328, uh, huh. We’ve experienced engine failure, need to turn. Mayday, mayday. United 328, heavy. Mayday, mayday, aircraft, uh…” is what the Denver Post folks say the flight crew said over the radio.

The DIA air traffic controller had the pilot to repeat all of it, “Yes, 328 heavy, say again-read all that again.” The pilot went on and read all of that again. After telling the DIA air-traffic controller that ol’ girl wasn’t acting right, they went on and mapped out a path for the crew to bring ol’ girl back in.

Ol’ girl was still mad, though. She threw engines parts out of the sky onto the road and onto the soccer field.





A fella by the name of Kirby Klements, whose house and yard felt the wrath of ol’ girl, told Pamela Brown, host of CNN Newsroom, on Saturday “Wife and I were sitting in the house…We heard this big bang. And we kind of looked at each other and go, ‘What was that?!’”

Mr. Kirby Klements told Pamela Brown that the next thing he and his wife knew there was another big bang, “Boom, Boom, Boom!” is the sound they heard. “I open the door and go, ‘Uh-oh, it’s an engine part.’”



It was during that moment that Mr. Kirby Klements’ nerves went bad because his “first fear was that the plane had gone down.” Like all of us, Mr. Kirby Klements was relieved to hear that everybody on board the plane were all right because usually when there is breaking news about a plane crash it is always about the number of people who are gone. 

One passenger, Ashly McGarity let everybody know just how lucky all 241 people are. Ashley McGarity, who was travelling to Hawaii with her boyfriend Skyler Jones, told the Denver Post folks that she noticed a burn spot on the engine before she boarded the plane. The burnt spot caused her to be a little hesitant about flying that day because the burnt spot on the engine was a sign that something was wrong. And low and behold, something was wrong.

Just to be clear, no one with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has come out to say what exactly happened and or if they talked to Ashley McGarity about that burnt spot on that engine that she saw.

But what I am saying is that if your eyes catch something that causes your gut to get that feeling then you better listen because you never know what you may be stepping into that you can’t get yourself out of.

Luckily for Ashley McGarity and the other 240 passengers and crewmembers on board United Airlines Flight 328, the crews’ cool heads and steady hands got everybody back safely on the ground.