A China Eastern flight was forced to make an emergency landing after its engine suffered damage midflight.
Footage reportedly taken on board the China Eastern Airbus A330-300 showed the aircraft rattling uncontrollably as the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) bound flight was forced to divert to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN).
Flight MU721 left HKG December 3, 2023, shortly after 8:30 am local time and was due to land at its destination around six hours later.
Passengers reportedly heard a loud bang and subsequent photos shared on social media showed one of the plane’s Rolls Royce engines with two badly damaged blades.
Então, Rolls Royce? Uma pá do andar de fan do motor Trent 772 partiu-se, provocou danos nas pás adjacentes e fez um buraco na carenagem. Pilotos do A330 da China Eastern controlaram bem a enorme vibração que se seguiu e aterraram em segurança. Isto não devia acontecer, é perigoso pic.twitter.com/YK5hRz7XP1
— José Correia Guedes (@cpt340) December 3, 2023
A second photo showed another part of the aircraft’s exterior with a small tear where presumably one of the blades struck.
It is understood that the Airbus A330 suffered engine failure, which in turn caused the aircraft to shake violently.
A passenger aboard the flight filmed from inside the aircraft and showed the cabin rattling uncontrollably as passengers held onto the seats in front of them.
China Eastern Airlines flight MU721, from Shanghai Hongqiao to Hong Kong, Airbus A330-300 (B-8970) experienced sudden vibrations inside cabin due to suspected engine failure. Originally scheduled to land at Hong Kong International Airport at 10:50 am, has been diverted to Xiamen… pic.twitter.com/ovV1P6AsMe
— Eliteworld (@eliteworldwaves) December 3, 2023
The Airbus, registered B-8970, is a seven-year-old plane. No injuries to passengers or crew have so far been reported.
The passengers were subsequently placed on another flight that landed in Xiamen later that day.