A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Boston was diverted when a terrified passenger spotted holes on the wing of the plane.

Footage shows damage to the Boeing 757-200 wing slat near the engine as flight 354 was taxiing on the San Francisco International Airport runway on February 19.

Passenger Kevin Clarke, a play-by-play announcer for World Pro Ski Tour, said he felt an 'incredibly loud vibration' during the 'nightmare' flight.

He said: 'Just about to land in Denver, with the wing coming apart on the plane. It came apart when we took off in San Francisco, and we're just about on the ground. Can't wait for this flight to be over.'

Around 45 minutes into the flight, the plane pilot announced the journey was being diverted to Denver due to wing damage.

The jet landed safely in Colorado at 5:28 pm local time with no passengers hurt.

A United Airlines spokesman said in a statement on February 20: 'United flight 354 diverted to Denver yesterday afternoon to address an issue with the slat on the wing of the aircraft.

'The flight landed safely and we arranged for another aircraft to take our customers to Boston.'

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident.