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Watch United Airlines flight catch fire midair, thanks to a rabbit (video) [1]

['Carla Sinclair']

Date: 2025-04-17

A United Airlines flight caught fire midair thanks to a bird, er, rabbit strike.

The plane, carrying 153 passengers, had just taken off from Denver on Sunday, headed to Edmonton in Canada, when passengers heard a bang. Terrifying footage circulating online shows an orange glow spread across the ceiling of the cabin and flames shooting out from a wing while people are screaming. One girl could be heard saying, "Mommy, I'm scared." (See video below, posted by @OnDisasters.)

Fortunately, nobody was injured, and the plane "returned safely to Denver to address a possible wildlife strike," according to a statement by United, via ABC News.

From ABC News: LiveATC audio documents the flight crew asking that the plane be inspected for an engine fire and being told that it was a rabbit that apparently got sucked into an engine. "Rabbit through the number 2, that'll do it," the pilot responded. … "There was a loud bang, and a significant vibration in the plane," passenger Scott Wolff told "Good Morning America." "Every few moments there was a backfire coming from the engine, a giant fireball behind it," he said. "Everyone in the plane then started to panic."

#Breaking Cabin footage of a United B-737 "landing an emergency after reportedly hitting a rabbit on departure from Denver. Video from inside the cabin showed large flames shooting from the engine". Updates when possible. 📹@aviationbrk pic.twitter.com/aiRrHizhPS — Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) April 16, 2025

Previously: Flight recorders on doomed Korean airliner stopped recording



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