Something Goes "Boom!" Aboard UAL Flight At SFO

A shipping container in the cargo hold of a United Airlines 757 exploded at the gate. One ramp worker was slightly hurt, but declined treatment.

The fiberglass, foam-padded container reportedly held electronic test equipment. It had been X-rayed before being loaded onto UAL Flight 33 from San Francisco to Kauai Island (HI). Flight 33 was delayed while the shipping container was again X-rayed and the aircraft checked for damage.

"It sounded like something had dropped to the ground," passenger Brian Bunger, who with his wife Sherri was boarding flight for Lihue, on the island of Kauai. "I didn't see anybody panic," he told the San Francisco Examiner. Still, he said, the incident was "a little bit unsettling."

A spokeswoman for the TSA told reporters the shipping container was apparently overpressurized when it was loaded on board the 757. The box and its owner were detained briefly, then allowed to go on their way. Passengers from Flight 33 eventually left SFO at about 3:00 (PDT).

FMI: www.ual.com