COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -On the way back from a school trip to Italy, Colonie High students saw flames coming from the engine of a United Airlines plane. NEWS10’s Anthony Krolikowski met with six of the passengers at The Crossings Park of Colonie after returning home the night before.
Flying United Airlines, students and teachers landed in Milan at the end of March for a non-school sponsored trip. “I love the idea of traveling the world and experiencing new things. So, as soon as I heard there was an Italy trip, and I’ve never gotten the opportunity to leave the country, fly, or really even leave the state much, I really just wanted to have the experience,” said Miranda Winchell.
On their way back to Washington D.C., some passengers were waking up from naps and reading books when they noticed something was wrong with the plane.
“We took off and then like five minutes later, all the sudden, the plane started shaking and it wasn’t like, I thought it was turbulence. But for turbulence, the plane shakes side-to-side. This felt like an up-and-down shake,” explained Winchell.
“When it happened, you can see like halos of lights coming out from the cracks in the window and we could hear pops. The plane was shaking,” described Seamus McWatters.
The students describe the next minutes as terrifying. They texted loved ones and held onto each other while sobbing and unsure if they would get home safely.
“Maybe like five minutes before the pilot finally went on the intercom,” said Mari Zhao. “The pilot said that the left engine had lost airflow and that we were going to make a landing,” added McWatters.”
According to the airlines, the pilots noticed a technical issue with one of the engines and declared an emergency. The plane safely landed back in Rome nearly 30 minutes after takeoff. Both students and teachers still had two more flights to go before they returned home to Colonie.
“I was just thinking it better not happen again. That’s really all that went through my head,” stated Elizabeth Tran.
The students safely returned to their final destination at Albany International Airport late Friday night. They said United Airlines gave out food and drink vouchers along with an online delay feedback form for possible compensation.
The six say they can now laugh about the serious situation and will be flying again. “Definitely not on United,” said McWatters. “Yeah, I agree. Not again,” added Tran. “I would take a plane again but not on United,” laughed Zhao.
Anthony Krolikowski
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