United flight from SF to Boston diverted due to damaged wing; passenger recounts experienceSAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A United Airlines flight headed to Boston from San Francisco on Monday was diverted due to damage on one of its wings.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver. No one was hurt but we are now seeing video of the damage and hearing from passengers on board.I immediately opened the window, looked out there going, well that’s not good!”
Kevin Clarke, who is an announcer on the World Pro Ski Tour, took video on a flight from San Francisco to Boston Monday.
He says he was a bit concerned after takeoff when he felt the plane shaking.All of a sudden I hear this loud vibration and noise that I’ve never heard from a plane before and it stopped within seconds and I’m like, well that’s good it stopped,” Clarke said.
Clarke says a short time later one of the pilots then walked down the aisle, looked out the window, and went back to the cockpit.
“Minutes later, he comes on the PA system and announces that we’ve sustained some damage to the slat underneath the wing,” says Clarke.
On air traffic control audio this could be heard:We have an emergency coming inbound from the Northwest.”
The plane was then rerouted to Denver where it successfully landed. As to the extent of the damage on the 757, here’s ABC News aviation expert Steve Ganyard.
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“If the damage had been more to the front part, it could have affected the controllability of the airplane. Luckily, in this case, it was in the rear and really didn’t have much effect on how the airplane handled,” said Ganyard.
Clarke, along with the other passengers, were then put on another plane to Boston. He’s back home now with his wife but still thinking about what happened on that initial flight.