Chilling cockpit audio captured a United Airlines pilot declaring “Mayday” after an engine failed just minutes into a trans-Atlantic flight from Washington, D.C., to Munich. The heavily fueled plane circled for 30 minutes before safely returning to Dulles with all 230 people onboard.

A United Airlines flight bound for Germany declared "mayday, mayday, mayday" with an engine failure last month, forcing the jet to hastily retreat to Washington, D.C., tower recordings and the carrier said.