March 3 to 9, 2024, is rapidly becoming United Airlines’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. Five separate incidents, four involving mechanical failure and one whose cause is unknown, have made flying the friendly skies rather frightful for all involved.
The first incident took place on Monday, March 4. United Flight 1118, a Boeing 737 traveling from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, suffered an engine fire shortly after takeoff.
“I remember there was just this bright, flashing light that came through the window, and it sounded like a bomb went off, and then it was just a strobe of fire out the window,” David Gruninger, who was on the connecting flight home to Florida with 15 of his friends after attending a wedding in Mexico, said.
The plane returned to Houston and landed safely. No one was physically injured, although one suspects, among those involved, there were multiple…
