United Airlines’ Unusual Emergency Landing: What Caused the Unexpected?

A United Airlines Boeing 737 was forced to make an emergency landing after a rabbit was sucked into one of its engines, causing dramatic fireballs that sent passengers into panic as pilots navigated the crippled aircraft back to Denver International Airport.

Quick Takes

United Airlines Flight UA2325 from Denver to Edmonton made an emergency landing after a rabbit was drawn into the right engine during takeoff, causing flames and backfires.
The Boeing 737-800 carried 153 passengers and 6 crew members, all of whom were safely evacuated with no reported injuries.
Wildlife strikes are common in aviation (over 20,000 reported in 2023), but rabbit strikes are extremely rare, with only four reported that year.
Passengers described hearing a “loud bang” followed by “significant vibration” and witnessing “giant fireballs” shooting from the damaged engine.
The FAA is investigating the incident.

Dramatic Engine Fire Caught on Video

The incident occurred when United Airlines Flight UA2325, headed from Denver to Edmonton, Alberta, encountered serious trouble shortly after takeoff. Passengers reported hearing a loud explosion followed by severe shaking throughout the aircraft. What happened next was captured on both passenger videos and by witnesses on the ground – the right engine began shooting large flames and experiencing repeated backfires, creating a terrifying scene for those on board and observers below.

Scott Wolff, one of the passengers aboard the flight, described the frightening moments. “There was a loud bang and a significant vibration in the plane we proceeded to still climb. Every few moments there was a backfire coming from the engine, a giant fireball behind it. Everybody in the plane then started to panic,” said Wolff.

Rabbit sucked into United Airlines’ plane engine causes ‘giant fireball,’ forces flight to make emergency landing https://t.co/D0BomzJfDu pic.twitter.com/2h9cdkWe6T

— New York Post (@nypost) April 16, 2025

Unusual Cause Identified

While most aviation enthusiasts are familiar with bird strikes as a common hazard for aircraft, this incident stood out for its unusual cause. In LiveATC audio recordings of communications between the flight crew and air traffic control, the pilot can be heard calmly reporting, “Rabbit through the number 2 engine, that’ll do it.” This confirmed what ground crews later verified – a rabbit had been ingested into the right engine of the Boeing 737-800, triggering the malfunction and subsequent fire.

The rarity of such an incident is underscored by Federal Aviation Administration data. In 2023, over 20,000 wildlife strikes were reported across the United States aviation system. However, only four of these incidents involved rabbits, making this emergency an exceptional occurrence. Denver International Airport, with its prairie location, had recorded one of these rare rabbit strikes previously.

Swift Response Prevents Tragedy

The United Airlines crew responded rapidly to the engine malfunction, turning the aircraft around after approximately 75 minutes in the air. Video footage showed firefighting crews waiting at Denver International Airport as the compromised aircraft returned for its emergency landing. Wyatt McCurry, who witnessed the incident from the ground, expressed his fear that the situation could have ended in tragedy.

Despite the dramatic nature of the incident, the pilots successfully landed the aircraft without any injuries to the 153 passengers or six crew members aboard. United Airlines arranged a replacement aircraft to complete the journey to Edmonton. “Our flight from Denver to Edmonton (UA2325) returned safely to Denver to address a possible wildlife strike,” United said in an official statement following the incident. The FAA has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the event.