Witness describes narrow escape from falling plane debris (CNN)

[ItsjustMe]

A United Airlines flight was forced to return to Denver International Airport after it suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff, sending aircraft debris raining down on soccer fields, homes and yards in a Denver suburb. CNN's Pamela Brown spoke to witness, Kirby Klements, who walked outside to find a large piece of the plane had fallen right in front of his house.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Donny Darko came to mind. nt

[Warpy]

2. Could have been so much worse

There are pins holding the engines to the wings that are designed to shear off and drop the whole engine if it is seriously out of balance to prevent the wing from being destroyed. This looks like cowling but not much more. They'll have to go over the area with a fine toothed comb to find the part that actually failed. The video from inside the plane showed the engine shaking like crazy, but not enough for those pins to shear.

Scary as hell for the pilot, passengers, and people on the ground, in that order. It could have been worse, but you didn't want to be standing under any of what did fall.

[yonder]

4. When viewing, I thought the engine oscillation was more dangerous

to the flight than the exploded engine. I could see where the vibration might eventually cause a fatigue induced catastrophic structural failure and did not know that there were shear pins to prevent that very thing.

DU, I learn something everyday. Thanks.

[Warpy]

5. If the flight had been much longer, that thing would have dropped off

That's what it is designed to do. The plane could make it back on one engine and two wings. The people on the ground might not have been quite so lucky.

[NBachers]

3. I hope the pieces are guarded from souvenir snatchers.