One Year Ago: Engine On United Flight 328 Broke Apart Over Broomfield Neighborhood

(CBS4) -- It has been one year since a United Airlines engine broke apart and caught fire after takeoff, dropping debris on a Colorado neighborhood. United Airlines flight 328 departed Denver International Airport on Feb. 20, 2021, on its way to Honolulu.

Debris from the plane fell onto neighborhoods in Broomfield damaging some homes and vehicles. The pilots returned to Denver 24 minutes later.

"I was shoveling snow last week and found a little more hunk of that carbon fiber sitting on the sidewalk," said Kirby Klements. "I was like, really?! It's been a year!"

Kirby Klements still finds reminders of United Flight 328 on his property. He and his wife were inside their Broomfield home when debris started falling from the sky.

"We heard a loud boom and it was enough that you questioned what it was. It wasn't a car backfiring or anything like that. We just looked at each other," said Klements. "We didn't realize what it was until I opened the door and stepped outside. It was the front end of a jet engine."

Debris damaged Klement's roof, tree and his truck parked out front. He received a settlement last year for property damage, but he says it was less than he expected.

His truck, totaled by the engine's impact, sat in his driveway for six months.

"We would see it in the morning when we left and at night when we came back," said Klements.

"People would go 'Oh, so you're getting a new truck?' I say oh, no, man. I'm not even sure I can get enough money out of it to replace the truck I had."

He's still meeting with lawyers, fighting for compensation.

"Because it was such a large corporation, in such a freak accident, people expect an average person like me to walk away with this big pile of money but that doesn't happen," said Kelments. "United has not reached out to us in any form or fashion other than to say, 'here's a little bit of money.' Nobody ever called to ask if we're okay."

The National Transportation Safety Board said one engine fan blade was cracked, and its surface was consistent with metal fatigue.

Grateful that no one was hurt, Klements still watches flights soar above his home.

But for the last year, those ascents have never looked the same.

"When a plane flies over, you look up with a little different thought pattern than what you had before," said Klements.