What happens when an aircraft ingests not a bird, but a rabbit into the engine? Passengers on a United Airlines found out this month.
Flight UA2325 was operating a scheduled flight from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Edmonton (YEG) on April 13, 2025. The aircraft left Denver at around 07:20 p.m local time, but ingested a rabbit into the number 2 (right-hand) engine during the takeoff roll. Despite some over-sensationalized media reports, the backfiring and compressor stall experienced by the engine was normal under such circumstances, and the engine was shut down successfully by the crew.
The aircraft flew several holding patterns to the east of the airport before returning to Denver at 8:03 p.m local time. The aircraft involved was N27213, a 23-year-old Boeing 737-824 built in June 1998. Unlike widebody jets, narrowbody aircraft like the 737 typically do not have fuel dumping capabilities. This is due to a very small margin between the aircraft’s maximum takeoff and landing weights. By way of an example, the Boeing 737-800 has a maximum takeoff weight of around 79 tonnes, and a maximum landing weight of 66 tonnes. Even if a 737 needs to land shortly after takeoff, a 13-tonne excess is manageable, and the aircraft is built to absorb it structurally.
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