(CNN) ––
A United Airlines flight, bound for Honolulu, returned to Denver International Airport this Saturday, after suffering an engine failure and debris from the plane falling into a Denver suburb.
United Flight 328 returned safely to the airport around 1:30 pm local time, an airport spokesman said.
That was about 20 minutes after police in Broomfield, Colorado, said via Twitter that they received reports that a plane flying over the Denver suburb had engine trouble and had "thrown debris into various neighborhoods around the city. 1:08 pm ».
"There are no reports of injuries at this time," the tweet said.
Other police posts indicated that the debris landed in Commons Park and in the Northmoor and Red Leaf neighborhoods of the city, which is about 25 miles north of Denver and 30 miles east of Denver International Airport.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement that a Boeing 777-200 returned safely to Denver International Airport after "experiencing a right engine failure shortly after takeoff."
"The FAA is aware of reports of debris in the vicinity of the aircraft's flight path," the statement said.
Debris from a United Airlines flight fell onto a soccer field in Broomfield, Colorado, on Saturday, February 20.
United Airlines told CNN there were 241 people, including 10 crew members, on Flight 328.
In air control communications with Flight 328, obtained by CNN, the pilots are heard issuing an emergency call.
"We have experienced an engine failure," they say in the recordings.
Rachel Welte, a spokeswoman for the Broomfield Police Department, reported at a news conference that the institution received calls from residents who said they had heard a loud explosion.
“Then they basically started to see what they thought was a plane falling from the sky.
What they were was rubble, ”Welte pointed out.
He also described the debris as "possibly some exterior pieces of the plane."
Police are working to secure the large debris field to the National Transportation Safety Board, which will be in charge of the investigation, according to the FAA.
"The board has opened an investigation into the February 20, 2021 motor event. Denver-based investigators are responding," agency spokesman Peter Knudson told CNN.
Meanwhile, Broomfield police have warned residents not to touch or move the plane's debris if they see it in their yard.
Precisely because the National Transportation Safety Board “wants all the debris to remain in place for investigation.
Kieran Cain told CNN that he was playing with his children at a local elementary school when a plane flew overhead and they heard a loud crash.
"We watched it go by, we heard the big bang, we looked up, there was black smoke in the sky," Cain told CNN.
“Debris started raining down, which you know, looked like it was floating and wasn't very heavy.
But looking at them now, they are giant pieces of metal everywhere, ”he said.
"I was surprised that the plane continued without interruption, without really altering its trajectory or doing anything," he said.
"It just went on like nothing."
Cain said he and his sons took shelter when debris fell.
CNN's Pete Muntean contributed to this report.
Denver RubbleUnited Airlines
