Police: Limit calls about plane debris

Residents have called department hundreds of times since incident

Broomfield police don’t want your tiny plane parts.

That honeycomb material? No, thank you.

Nuts, bolts, screws? Not now. Residents have called the police department hundreds of times in the last since Saturday to report or turn in debris from a United Airlines plane’s engine that burst into flames and rained down parts, but police say it’s time for everyone to stand down.

“We were just getting overwhelmed by the amount of calls,” police spokeswoman Rachel Welte said.

The police department initially asked residents to call if they found any debris from Saturday’s uncontained engine failure on Flight 328, which happened shortly after the Hawaii-bound plane left Denver International Airport, but that proved to be hundreds of calls.

On Saturday and Sunday, so many people called the police department

about debris that it strained resources and manpower, Welte said. Some enthusiastic searchers even started putting flags by debris at Broomfield County Commons Park, she said, which is not necessary.

“Itwasjustabittoomuch,” she said.

The police department has already collected several dozen plane pieces that will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, but now ask that finders call police about plane debris only if the item is sizable — think at least as big as a computer monitor — or has an identifying feature, like a serial or part number, or text that reads, “United,” Welte said.

“I’m assuming people are going to continue to find things, as they go out into their yards and work this spring,” Welte said.

Police are assuming the small parts that have been turned in to them are legitimate pieces of the plane, she added.

“We’re not plane experts, we’re just trying our best,” she said.

Many of the larger plane parts were picked up Saturday night by investigators with the NTSB, she added, as they mounted a hurried effort to collect the debris before a winter storm moved in that evening.

Authorities stopped by Kirby Klements’ home on Elmwood Street around 6 p.m. Saturday to remove the huge ring-shaped piece of debris that fell on his front lawn and smashed his truck, he said Monday. A representative from United Airlines also touched base with him and told him the airline is self-insured, he said.

He needs a new truck, not just the cash value, and he’s hoping United Airlines will foot the bill.

“I can’t have them drop something on my truck and destroy it and give me $10,000 or $15,000 and walk away,” he said. “I’ve got no means of replacing my vehicle. I can’t go take out a $60,000 loan to buy an automobile with a $700 a month payment.”

United Airlines declined to say whether it will pay for damages caused by the plane’s debris. Klements said his own insurance will be a last resort, but the insurance company said they’ll work with him.

Most home and vehicle insurance policies do cover unexpected events that damage covered property — even airplane parts falling from the sky, insurance expert Doug Emerick said, though each policy has its own unique exclusions and some might not cover it.

“The only thing it doesn’t cover are ‘acts of God,’ and that was not an act of God,” he said. “If there is damage to the home, it would be covered. If there is damage to the property itself, like a piece falls in the front or back yard, that may not be covered, because the land itself is not covered.”

Klements, who has been on the phone non-stop since the incident and has been dealing with a steady stream of gawkers at his house, said Monday he just wants to be sure he has a new truck in time to take his grandchildren camping this summer.

“If I can’t do that, that’s going to be even worse,” he said.