Rabbit sucked into United Airlines’ plane engine causes ‘giant fireball,’ forces flight to make emergency landing

A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing after a fire apparently caused by a rabbit getting sucked into one of its engines before takeoff over the weekend.

Dramatic video showed repeated flashes of flame shooting from one of United Flight 2325’s engines shortly after it departed Denver International Airport on its way to Edmonton, Canada.

The flight crew can be heard on LiveATC audio requesting the plane be inspected for an engine fire, which the pilot confirmed was caused by a rabbit strike.

“Rabbit through the number 2 [engine], that’ll do it,” the pilot said, according to ABC News.

Passenger Scott Wolff told “Good Morning America” that he heard a “loud bang” after the unfortunate bunny was ingested by the turbine, followed by “significant vibration in the plane” as it continued its ascent.

“Every few moments there was a backfire coming from the engine, a giant fireball behind it,” he said.

“Everyone in the plane then started to panic.”

The flight, which was carrying 153 passengers and six crew, landed safely back in Denver around 8:05 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration told the outlet. Then the passengers were put on a different aircraft and continued on to Edmonton.

“Our flight from Denver to Edmonton (UA2325) returned safely to Denver to address a possible wildlife strike,” United said in a statement.

The FAA reported more than 20,000 aircraft wildlife strikes in 2024 alone — most of them birds. Just four rabbit strikes were reported during that time period.