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One of the passengers said he heard “a big metallic bang” which was followed by about 40 minutes of “shaking” until the plane finally landed.

“Today I learned that if the #2 engine explodes on your United flight, it sounds a lot like being inside an unbalanced washing machine,” the passenger wrote in an Instagram post.

Another passenger, who shared images from aboard on Twitter, referred to the incident as the “scariest flight of my life,” while another said it felt like “people calmly preparing themselves for death” as the plane braced for the emergency landing.

The FAA said it would investigate the cause of the malfunction.

ABC News' Erin Dooley contributed to this report.

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