At least two people were injured when a Longtail Aviation Boeing 747-400 freighter rained engine parts down on a village near the end of the Maastricht, Netherlands airport runway.

The plane was headed to New York JFK and had just taken off when the number one engine suffered damage and turbine blades began to fall. The crew declared an emergency, held at 10,000 feet and then dumped fuel before diverting to Belgium using its three remaining engines an hour after takeoff.

The engine parts fell to the ground, damaging cars and hurting people including an elderly woman who suffered minor injuries.

Blades de um dos motores de um Boeing 747-400F (VQ-BWT) da @FlyLongtail caíram no início da tarde de hoje em ruas de Meersen, na Holanda, após uma falha não contida.

A aeronave havia acabado de decolar de Maastricht (MST) e foi desviada para Liege (LGG), Bélgica, em segurança. pic.twitter.com/ZeVLNcib60

— Portão 1 (@portaoum) February 20, 2021

A local resident reported hearing a loud bang and flames from one of the 747’s right engines before metal came falling from the sky. Video taken from the ground shows black smoke coming from the engine.

I can’t quite decide whether falling engine parts are better or worse than falling lavatory ice which can be dangerous as well.