The Federal Aviation Administration is probing a reported wildlife strike in Denver involving a United Boeing 737-800.
United flight 2325 was scheduled to operate from Denver to Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday evening. The aircraft – registered as N27213 – returned safely to Denver around an hour later.
Shortly after departure, air traffic controllers advised the crew that flames were coming from one of the jet’s engines. The crew believed they had lost an engine.
Later, the crew advised that the No. 2 engine was shut down, and they were also receiving an unsafe gear indication.
Chaos on a United Airlines flight heading to Edmonton after one of the engines caught on fire due to what the airline called a ‘wildlife strike.’
After the crew declared a mayday and shut down the right engine, the plane made an emergency landing in Denver, its original point of… pic.twitter.com/NDC8dGdkD1
— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) April 16, 2025
Airport officials later advised the crew that a rabbit was likely ingested into the engine. “Rabbit through the No. 2 [engine], that’ll do it,” one of the pilots said, per air traffic control audio recordings.
The aircraft remained out of service for two days, returning on Tuesday evening.
According to the FAA, nearly 21,000 wildlife strikes occurred in 2024, most of which involved birds. Four rabbit strikes were reported.
