Plane With Wing Damage Lands Mid-Flight After Leaving San Francisco

DENVER — A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Boston made an unplanned landing in Denver after a wing was found to be broken while the plane was mid-air.

Flight 354 experienced a possible flap or slat issue on the wing of the Boeing 757 aircraft, according to United and the Federal Aviation Administration, which will investigate the source of the incident Monday.

Passenger Kevin Clarke was seated near the wing and recounted to KDVR how the pilot entered the cabin the view the damage.

“All of a sudden, I heard this incredible metallic vibration I’ve never heard before. I woke right up and I went, what is that?” Clarke told the outlet.

Clarke said he experienced “the most violent turbulence I can imagine,” according to KDVR.

“Now I’m panicked. I’m like, well this isn’t good,” he told the outlet. “The wing is partially coming apart, it was shaking so hard I just can’t believe it. I was like, OK, is this the day?”

The plane landed shortly after 5 p.m. in Denver and United arranged for a different aircraft to take the 165 passengers to Boston later Monday night.

Kevin Kuhlmann, chair of Metropolitan State University’s Aviation and Aerospace Division, speculated the damage may have been caused by a bird, according to KDVR.