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United flight makes emergency landing after engine overheats. Picture: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images/AFP
A UNITED Airlines passenger has said he feels “glad to be alive” after an engine failure forced his flight to make an emergency landing in Costa Rica.
The Texas-bound flight had to make the urgent landing because the engine was overheating, the airline has confirmed.
Airline spokeswoman Erin Benson said the two-engine Boeing 737 had to circle first to burn fuel, before returning to the airport in Liberia, Costa Rica. She said the plane was over normal landing weight, so fire crews stood by at the airport.
And in a series of tweets, passenger Jody Genessy described the high-stress experience as “frightening”.
“We circled over the ocean for an hour to burn fuel before landing. I fly a lot. This was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced,” Mr Genessy said.
“The pilot was flying us in to land with one engine (he didn’t tell us this). Just as we were about to touch, a wind sheer hit the plane.
“The wing about hit the runway after being hit by the wind sheer. The pilot corrected it and we almost went sideways. He then pulled us up.”
Mr Genessy said he feels “glad to be alive” after the experience, giving credit to the pilot.
The passengers were given compensation and eventually put on another flight to Houston, with Mr Genessy tweeting that the pilots got a standing ovation as they boarded for round two.