Images posted on social media have shown the damage caused to the engine of a United Airlines plane's engine as it flew from San Francisco to Honolulu.
The images showed the engine completely stripped back, with apparently half an hour left until it was due to touch down.
The plane issued an emergency distress call but made a safe landing in Honolulu, according to reports.
Horrified passengers looked out their window to see parts falling from one of the plane’s engines.
Passenger Haley Ebert told the New York Times she heard a “huge bam” as parts of the engine's casing flew off the engine.
“Everyone on our side flung open their windows just to see what it was,” Ms Ebert said.
“The casing to the engine had sort of flown off. There were pieces flying into the ocean, nuts and bolts flying out a little bit. A bolt hit the wing, and it just made this huge bam.”
Passenger Maria Falaschi tweeted that it was the “scariest flight of my life.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident.
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