The plane landed safely, and nobody aboard or on the ground was reported hurt, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Boeing 777-200 returned to the Denver International Airport after experiencing a right-engine failure shortly after takeoff. Flight 328 was flying from Denver to Honolulu when the incident occurred, the agency said.

United said in a separate statement that there were 231 passengers and 10 crew on board. All passengers were to be rebooked on a new flight to Hawaii, the airline said.

The Broomfield Police Department posted photos on Twitter showing large, circular pieces of debris leaning against a house in the suburb about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Denver. Police are asking that anyone injured come forward.

Passengers recounted a terrifying ordeal that began to unfold shortly after the plane full of vacationers took off.

The aircraft was almost at cruising altitude and the captain was giving an announcement over the intercom when a large explosion rocked the cabin, accompanied by a bright flash.

“The plane started shaking violently, and we lost altitude and we started going down,” said David Delucia, who was sitting directly across the aisle from the side with the failed engine. “When it initially happened, I thought we were done. I thought we were going down.”

Delucia and his wife took their wallets containing their driver’s licenses and put them in their pockets so that “in case we did go down, we could be ID’d,” said Delucia, who was still shaken up as he waited to board another flight for Honolulu.

On the ground, witnesses also heard the explosion and were scared for those on board.

Tyler Thal, who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that he was out for a walk with his family when he noticed a large commercial plane flying unusually low and took out his phone to film it.

“While I was looking at it, I saw an explosion and then the cloud of smoke and some debris falling from it. It was just like a speck in the sky, and as I’m watching that, I’m telling my family what I just saw and then we heard the explosion,” he said in a phone interview. “The plane just kind of continued on, and we didn’t see it after that.”

Thal was relieved to learn no one was injured or killed from what he saw.

Video posted on Twitter showed the engine fully engulfed in flames as the plane flew through the air.

Kirby Klements was inside with his wife when they heard a huge booming sound, he said. A few seconds later, the couple saw a massive piece of debris fly past their window and into the bed of Klements’ truck, crushing the cab and pushing the vehicle into the dirt.

He estimated the circular engine cowling at 15 feet (4.5 meters) in diameter. Fine pieces of the fiberglass insulation used in the airplane engine fell from the sky “like ash” for about 10 minutes, he said, and several large chunks of insulation landed in his backyard.

“If it had been 10 feet different, it would have landed right on top of the house,” he said in a phone interview with the AP. “And if anyone had been in the truck, they would have been dead.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Aviation safety experts said the plane appeared to have suffered an uncontained and catastrophic engine failure. Such an event is extremely rare and happens when huge spinning discs inside the engine suffer some sort of failure and breach the armored casing around the engine that is designed to contain the damage, said John Cox, an aviation safety expert and retired airline pilot who runs an aviation safety consulting firm called Safety Operating Systems.

“That unbalanced disk has a lot of force in it, and it’s spinning at several thousand rotations per minute … and when you have that much centrifugal force, it has to go somewhere,” he said in a phone interview.

Pilots practice how to deal with such an event frequently and would have immediately shut off anything flammable in the engine, including fuel and hydraulic fluid, using a single switch, Cox said.

Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall called the incident another example of “cracks in our culture in aviation safety (that) need to be addressed.

Hall, who was on the board from 1994 to 2001, has criticized the FAA over the past decade as “drifting toward letting the manufacturers provide the aviation oversight that the public was paying for.” That goes especially for Boeing, he said.

Despite the scary appearance of a flaming engine, most such incidents don’t result in loss of life, Cox said.

The last fatality on a U.S. airline flight involved such an engine failure on a Southwest Airlines flight from New York to Dallas in April 2018. A passenger was killed when the engine disintegrated more than 30,000 feet above Pennsylvania and debris struck the plane, breaking the window next to her seat. She was forced halfway out the window before other passengers pulled her back inside.

In that case, the breakdown was blamed on a broken fan blade in an engine of the Boeing 737. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to step up inspections of fan blades on certain engines made by CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric and France’s Safran S.A.

In 2010, a Qantas Airbus A380 suffered a frightening uncontained engine failure shortly after takeoff from Singapore. Shrapnel from the engine damaged critical systems on the plane, but pilots were able to land safely. The incident was blamed on the faulty manufacturing of a pipe in the Rolls Royce engine.

“The flames scare the hell out of everybody. But they are the least of the problem because you’re going to get them put out and you’re going to shut off everything that can burn,” Cox said.

Flaccus reported from Portland, Oregon. Associated Press reporters David Koenig in Dallas and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.

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In hard-hit Texas, where millions were warned to boil tap water before drinking it, the warm-up was expected to last for several days. The thaw produced burst pipes throughout the region, adding to the list of woes from severe conditions that were blamed for more than 70 deaths.

By Saturday afternoon, the sun had come out in Dallas and temperatures were nearing the 50s. People emerged to walk and jog in residential neighborhoods after days indoors. Many roads had dried out, and patches of snow were melting. Snowmen slumped.

Linda Nguyen woke up in a Dallas hotel room Saturday morning with an assurance she hadn’t had in nearly a week: She and her cat had somewhere to sleep with power and water.

Electricity had been restored to her apartment on Wednesday. But when Nguyen arrived home from work the next evening, she found a soaked carpet. A pipe had burst in her bedroom.

“It’s essentially unlivable,” said Nguyen, 27, who works in real estate. “Everything is completely ruined.”

Deaths attributed to the weather include a man at an Abilene health care facility where the lack of water pressure made medical treatment impossible. Officials also reported deaths from hypothermia, including homeless people and those inside buildings with no power or heat. Others died in car accidents on icy roads or from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

Roughly half the deaths reported so far occurred in Texas, with multiple fatalities also in Tennessee, Kentucky, Oregon and a few other Southern and Midwestern states.

A Tennessee farmer died trying to save two calves from a frozen pond.

President Joe Biden’s office said Saturday he has declared a major disaster in Texas, directing federal agencies to help in the recovery.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, tweeted Saturday that she helped raise more than $3 million toward relief. She was soliciting help for a Houston food bank, one of 12 Texas organizations she said would benefit from the donations.

The storms left more than 300,000 still without power across the country on Saturday, many of them in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

More than 50,000 Oregon electricity customers were among those without power, more than a week after an ice storm ravaged the electrical grid. Portland General Electric had hoped to have service back to all but 15,000 customers by Friday night. But the utility discovered additional damage in previously inaccessible areas.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered the National Guard to go door-to-door in some areas to check on residents’ welfare. At its peak, what was the worst ice storm in 40 years knocked out power to more than 350,000 customers.

In West Virginia, Appalachian Power was working on a list of about 1,500 places that needed repair, as about 44,000 customers in the state remained without electricity after experiencing back-to-back ice storms Feb. 11 and Feb. 15. More than 3,200 workers were attempting to get power back online, their efforts spread across the six most affected counties on Saturday.

In Wayne County, West Virginia, workers had to replace the same pole three times because trees kept falling on it.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott met Saturday with legislators from both parties to discuss energy prices as Texans face massive spikes in their electric bills after wholesale energy prices skyrocketed while power plants were offline.

“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills” resulting from the weather, he said in a statement.

Water woes added misery for people across the South who went without heat or electricity for days after the ice. Snow storms forced rolling blackouts from Minnesota to Texas.

Robert Tuskey was retrieving tools from the back of his pickup truck Saturday afternoon as he prepared to fix a water line at a friend’s home in Dallas.

“Everything’s been freezing,” Tuskey said. “I even had one in my own house … of course I’m lucky I’m a plumber.”

Tuskey, 49, said his plumbing business has had a stream of calls for help from friends and relatives with burst pipes. “I’m fixing to go help out another family member,” he said. “I know she ain’t got no money at all, but they ain’t got no water at all, and they’re older.”

In Jackson, Mississippi, most of the city of about 161,000 lacked running water, and officials blamed city water mains that are more than 100 years old and not built for freezing weather.

The city was providing water for flushing toilets and drinking. But residents had to pick it up, leaving the elderly and those living on icy roads vulnerable.

Incoming and outgoing passenger flights at Memphis International Airport resumed Saturday after all flights were canceled Friday because of water pressure problems. The issues hadn’t been resolved, but airport officials set up temporary restroom facilities.

Prison rights advocates said some correctional facilities across Louisiana had intermittent electricity and frozen pipes, affecting toilets and showers.

The men who are sick, elderly or being held not in dormitories but in cell blocks — small spaces surrounded by concrete walls — were especially vulnerable, according to Voice of the Experienced, a grassroots organization founded and run by formerly incarcerated people. The group said one man at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, just south of Baton Rouge, described a thin layer of ice on his walls.

Cammie Maturin said she spoke to men at the 6,300-inmate Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola who were given no extra provisions to protect themselves from the cold.

“They give them no extra blankets. No extra anything. For them, it’s just been fend for yourself,” said Maturin, president of the nonprofit H.O.P.E. Foundation.

In many areas, water pressure dropped after lines froze and because people left faucets dripping to prevent pipes from icing, authorities said.

As of Saturday, 1,445 public water systems in Texas had reported disrupted operations, said Toby Baker executive director of the state Commission on Environmental Quality. Government agencies were using mobile labs and coordinating to speed water testing.

That’s up from 1,300 reporting issues Friday afternoon. But Baker said the number of affected customers had dropped slightly. Most were under boil-water orders, with 156,000 lacking water service entirely.

“It seems like last night we may have seen some stabilization in the water systems across the state,” Baker said.

The Saturday thaw after 11 days of freezing temperatures in Oklahoma City left residents with burst water pipes, inoperable wells and furnaces knocked out of operation by brief power blackouts.

Rhodes College in Memphis said Friday that about 700 residential students were being moved to hotels in the suburbs of Germantown and Collierville after school bathrooms stopped functioning because of low water pressure.

Firefighters extinguished a blaze at a fully occupied 102-room hotel in Killeen, Texas, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, late Friday. The hotel’s sprinkler system didn’t work because of frozen pipes, authorities said Saturday.

Flames shot from the top of the four-story hotel, and three people required medical care. Displaced guests were taken to a nearby Baptist church.

Texas electrical grid operators said electricity transmission returned to normal after the historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures created a surge in demand that buckled the state’s system.

Smaller outages remained, but Bill Magness, president of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said the grid now can provide power throughout the system.

Abbott ordered an investigation into the failure for a state known as the U.S. energy capital. ERCOT officials have defended their preparations and the decision to begin forced outages Monday as the grid reached breaking point.

The blackouts resulted in at least two lawsuits filed against ERCOT and utilities, including one filed by the family of an 11-year-old boy who is believed to have died from hypothermia. The lawsuits claim ERCOT ignored repeated warnings of weaknesses in the state’s power infrastructure.

Also, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued civil investigative demands to ERCOT and electric utility companies. His investigation will address power outages, emergency plans, energy pricing and more related to the winter storm.

___

Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

___

Associated Press journalists Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City; Jim Mustian in New York; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix; and Kimberlee Kruesi in Boise, Idaho contributed.

The following content is created in partnership with the National Black Movie Association. It does not reflect the work or opinions of NBC Washington’s editorial staff. Click here to learn more about the National Black Movie Association.

Stories are powerful: They move and inspire us, bring us closer to different realities, and can also remind us of what it means to be human. Films are no exception. Watching more diverse films has the power to broaden our views and, at the same time, reminds Hollywood that we want to see different stories onscreen. With a country as diverse as ever before—according to the most recent Hollywood Diversity Report, over 40 percent of the U.S. population are minorities and will become the majority within a couple of decades—the movie industry is still catching up, with people of color underrepresented both in front and behind the cameras.

With that in mind, the National Black Movie Association (sponsor of this article), launched National Black Movie Day, a day to acknowledge, celebrate and support the contribution of Black talent in the film industry. Here, a list of Black film creators whose voices have made films more socially relevant and interesting. Get your popcorn ready!

Directors

Looking at these names all together shows how these creators have helped push movies forward in the industry. Regardless of their varying styles, genres or stories they’re telling, they all share the ability to combine social and political narratives with artful and innovative filmmaking.

Spike Lee

One of the leading voices in American cinema, his influence goes beyond the big screen. Considered by many to be the first Black director to become a household name, thanks to movies like Do the Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee has been at the helm of Black cinema since the early 90s. From biopics to documentaries, war films to musicals, no two of his films are alike.

Ava DuVernay

Though she started her career in broadcast journalism and didn’t pick up a camera until she was 32, DuVernay continues to push through representation and gender boundaries with her work as a director. Be it through movies—from the historical Selma to her adaptation of the classic A Wrinkle in Time—miniseries or documentaries, her work keeps garnering accolades and sheds a light on the Black experience.

Barry Jenkins

Though his films explore issues of race, culture, addiction and sexuality, they all share a common thread: Black love. Jenkins’ work offers us a different gaze, a new way of seeing stories—love stories—led by Black actors. The use of color and light in Medicine for Melancholy, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk are key elements of his storytelling, bringing us closer to the vulnerability of his characters.

Taking the Lead

Since the early days of cinema in the late 19th century, the on-screen roles for Black actors have made slow progress. For a long time, they often got secondary roles, mostly playing maids or butlers. But throughout cinema’s history, Black actors and actresses have challenged this narrative.

The Pioneers

In the search for better roles for Black actors, two names are impossible to not mention: Sidney Poitier and Cecily Tyson. Poitier’s career —which spanned from acting, writing, and directing— was marked by becoming the first Black actor to win an Academy Award. His depiction of proud and powerful characters is still considered revolutionary today. For her part, Tyson fought for better, stronger and more dignified roles for Black women, by refusing to play drug addicts, prostitutes or maids.

Established Names

Today, when looking at names like Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson one can see how much things have changed. These actors have continuously proved the importance of their roles, being nominated for and winning awards such as Golden Globes and Oscars.

A New Generation

The future of Black actors looks promising, with young actors like Donald Glover, Amandla Stenberg and Zendaya shaking things up. With great success in widely-known films such as The Greatest Showman, The Lion King, and The Hate U Give, they have proven they have what it takes. But there is still a long way to go: According to the most recent Hollywood Diversity Report, two out of every ten lead roles in movies are played by people of color. That’s why it’s so important to watch and share diverse films.

Beyond Fiction

There’s a great selection of incredible documentaries that delve into and celebrate Black stories. Streaming services are offering a wide array of documentaries to help people educate themselves around social issues like racial inequality and systematic racism, and on important and inspiring real-life stories that stem from Black culture. Some you don’t want to miss:

• I Am Not Your Negro: Based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House—a deep dive to the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.— filmmaker Raoul Peck forges an end to the book that was supposed to be.
• 13th: With a combination of archival footage and interviews with powerful political figures, this is a must-see for anyone who wants to understand mass incarceration in America.
• Soundtrack for a Revolution: Taking a fresh approach to the story of the American Civil Rights Movement, it features the powerful music from the movement itself.

Celebrate over 100 years of Black contributions to the film industry. National Black Movie Day looks to honor and promote Black achievements in film. Click here to learn more about this celebration and the work the National Black Movie Association is doing.

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