United Airlines grounds some Boeing 777 jets after debris falls from sky during engine failure

United Airlines Boeing 737-924 (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration announced that some Boeing 777 jets will be grounded and investigated following Saturday's incident where debris fell from the sky while the airplane experienced engine failure. 

The Boeing 777 was heading from Denver to Honolulu with 231 passengers and 10 crew aboard when its right engine failed and erupted in flames. The plane quickly lost altitude and dropped huge pieces of the engine casing and chunks of fiberglass onto the neighborhoods below.

"Starting immediately and out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily and temporarily removing 24 Boeing 777 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines from our schedule. Since yesterday, we’ve been in touch with regulators at the NTSB and FAA and will continue to work closely with them to determine any additional steps that are needed to ensure these aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards and can return to service. As we swap out aircraft, we expect only a small number of customers to be inconvenienced," United said.

United said it has 52 of the 777 planes with the same engine type in its fleet. Of those, 24 planes are active and 28 are in storage.

With the grounding of the planes, the FAA said it is also investigating the engine types.

"We reviewed all available safety data following yesterday’s incident," FAA administrator, Steve Dickson, said in a statement. "Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes."

Debris from a Boeing 777 commercial jet landed in front of a home near Broomfield, about 20 miles north of downtown Denver, after the engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff.

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