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A CHILLING radio recording has captured the moment the pilot of a United Airlines flight realized one of the engines had failed.
The plane had just taken off from an airport in Washington DC when the pilot had to make an abrupt mid-air U-turn.
United Flight 108 took off on July 25 from Washington Dulles International Airport and was heading to Munich, Germany.
The massive flight, which was made on a Boeing 787, was carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members, United confirmed to CNN.
But after ascending to just 5,000 feet in the air, the pilot realized that they would have to return to the airport as soon as possible.
A disturbing radio call to air traffic control captured the pilot saying, “Engine failure, left engine.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” said the pilot, according to the audio published by LiveATC.net.
An air traffic controller quickly responded and said, “Are you able to make your way back to the field at this time.”
“There’s nobody between you and the field.”
The controller then had to help direct the pilot to a safe place 10 miles away from the airport where they could dump fuel.
According to data from the flight tracking site Flightradar 24, the flight had landed back at Dulles just 30 minutes after it took off.
In a statement, United said, “The plane landed safely, and all passengers deplaned normally at the gate.”
Fire and rescue crews assessed the plane before it was towed to the gate, according to the airport.
“The flight was subsequently canceled and we arranged alternate travel arrangements to take customers to their destination as soon as possible,” United said.
The airplane was returned to service after three days of repairs and has successfully made many international flights.
US on edge over ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A series of devastating plane crashes, including the mid-air collision above DC that killed 67, has left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.”
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.
“When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”
The short period Matzus referred to was just a matter of three weeks. The aviation mishaps included:
January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport, killing 67 people
January 31 – An air ambulance carrying a 6-year-old girl and her mom crashed on a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in total
February 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injured
February 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed killing all 10 people on board
February 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided with another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four others
February 17 – A Delta plane crashed on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21
February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people
February 24 – Smoke filled a Delta Airlines flight cabin forcing passengers to evacuate by a slide after making an emergency landing in Atlanta
March 9 – A Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed into a retirement village parking lot in Manheim, Pennsylvania
March 13 – An American Airlines jet engine erupted into flames at the Denver airport, forcing passengers to escape onto the plane’s wing
FLIGHT FEARS
The plane drama comes after three people died in an aircraft crash off a California coast in July.
The private plane was zooming from the Bay Area to Pacific Grove when it plummeted into the waters.
Travelers have been on high alert since an American Airlines flight smashed into a Black Hawk at the beginning of the year, killing everyone who was on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash and held a series of hearings last week to discuss their findings.
In one hearing, officials released the final conversation that was had between the Army pilots moments before the wreck.
And they played a video of the wreck that left mourning family members sitting in the room sobbing.
The NTSB will continue to share its findings with the public.
