The United Airlines Boeing 737-800 made a forced landing due to an engine fire while en route from Denver to Canada. Experts clarified that this incident was related to a rabbit entering the aircraft's turbine.
United Airlines flight 2325 departed from Denver on Sunday to Edmonton, Canada, with 153 passengers and 6 crew members.
According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAM), the crew reported colliding with an animal during the flight. It was not specified which animal it was, but it was noted that at the time of the incident, rabbits were running along the path with their sheep.
"Be careful of rabbit activity in the corridor," the dispatcher warned the other pilots. "The rabbit is running... it's heading in your direction of flight."
"Perhaps we crossed it," another United pilot told the dispatcher.
"We're bigger than them," a Frontier airline pilot joked.
But for United 2325, this was no joke. "We received a report of a fire on our wing," said the United Flight 2325 pilot, who declared a state of emergency and announced his plans to return to the airport and take a tour.
Denver Airport's public relations officer, Kailen Villagrana, told CNN that fire trucks were called in as usual.
The plane later safely returned to its seat, the passengers were transferred to another plane, and they flew to Edmonton.
According to the FAM's wildlife collision database, aircraft crashed into animals 800 times at Denver International Airport last year. Most of these collisions occurred with birds. Also, in some cases, planes crashed into dogs, rats, lizards, and rabbits.
Abdullah Sayyid
