An image of the failure of the Boeing 777-200 that took off from Denver International Airport this Saturday.Hayden Smith / EFE
United Airlines will ground 24 Boeing 777-200 aircraft after the failure of one of them this Saturday in Denver (Colorado).
A plane took off from the city's international airport bound for Honolulu (Hawaii) and, after a few minutes, the aircraft had an engine failure that caused it to lose parts that fell in a residential area.
Authorities have not reported injuries on the ground or among the 231 passengers and 10 crew members on the flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States has opened an investigation and has ordered emergency inspections.
United Airlines said it is temporarily removing aircraft from its fleet "as a precaution" and is working with investigators to determine any additional precautions,
The Washington Post
reports
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The administrator of the FAA, Steve Dickson, said in a statement that the Boeing 777s equipped with the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines "will probably be withdrawn from service."
Dickson reported that the results of the first investigations indicate that there was a problem in the so-called "hollow fan blade exclusive to this engine model and used exclusively in Boeing 777 aircraft."
United Airlines is the only company in the US that uses this type of engine, according to Reuters.
The Boeing 777-200 is the largest aircraft in use since 1990. According to company data, aircraft have experienced less than one major accident per million departures, one of the lowest accident rates in the world. any major commercial aircraft,
The Washington Post
reports
.