A mother and son from Manchester were among those on board United flight 328 when things took a frightening turn.
“It was very, very scary,” said Katherine Ford.
“As soon as I heard the impact, I immediately knew there was some damage. The plane was seriously shaking afterward,” said Sean Ford.
After leaving their home in Manchester, they headed to visit family in Hawaii on Saturday.
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Soon after takeoff from Denver, they said they heard a pop and realized the engine had an issue.
“Most of us started praying. Most of us just started reflecting. It was very terrifying,” said Katherine.
“A lot of people were accepting the fact that the plane is going to do what it wants at that point,” said Sean.
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Eventually, the pilot announced they would return to the airport.
But there were some nerve-wracking minutes still left in the air.
"I was sitting right next to children, beautiful family. So I was trying to give them comfort,” said Katherine.
“I just thought the best thing for me was try to stay calm and that was working out pretty well until I heard people from the other side start talking about the engine being on fire. Pretty much when that happened I just started to reflect on my life,” said Sean.
After landing, they felt a huge sense of relief and then first responders and buses rushed to meet the plane.
Just hours later, the mom and son took off again and are now safely in Hawaii.
“We thought about, well I did think we should go back home. But I said no. We’re going to do this. We, I don’t think it’s going to happen again, right?” said Katherine.
“It’s just super rare. So I’m just hoping from here on out with this happening that plane companies are checking their engines and doing more maintenance and making sure that it’s safe for their passengers,” said Sean.
Now they’re hoping to relax a little on what Katherine said is her first trip in more than a year.
