San Francisco-bound United flight out of Sydney forced to turn back due to "maintenance issue"
Yet another United flight was unable to make it to its planned destination Monday when a jet bound for San Francisco from Australia had to return to Sydney due to a "maintenance issue," airline officials said.
The problem with the international flight was the latest in a series of recent problems for travelers on United.
According to a statement issued by United Airlines media relations, on Monday, March 11 United flight 830 departed from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport at around 12 p.m. local time, bound for the San Francisco International Airport. Less than two hours later, the Boeing 777-300 aircraft "returned to Sydney due to a maintenance issue." The statement did not specify the nature of the maintenance issue.
Officials said the plane landed safely and passengers were able to deplane normally at the gate. A total of 167 passengers and 16 crew members were onboard the jet.
The airline provided overnight accommodations for the passengers and rebooked them on a later flight to San Francisco.
YouTube account New York Aviation posted video of the plane's take off and return landing at the airport in Sydney.
Over the course of the past week, six United Airlines flights have faced problems that forced flights to return to their point of departure or make emergency landings.
Two of those flights left SFO and were diverted to LAX on Thursday and Friday of last week. The first jet lost a wheel during takeoff Thursday afternoon. That wheel crushed one car and damaged others in an SFO employee parking lot. The plane on Friday that was bound for Mexico City was forced to land with a hydraulics problem.
Also on Friday morning, United Flight 2477 from Memphis to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston veered off the runway and into the grass just after landing. The 160 passengers and six crew members, were forced to depart the plane using air stars on the open runway. There were no injuries in any of those incidents.
One week ago, United Flight 1118 bound for Fort Myers, Florida, was forced to immediately return to George Bush Intercontinental Airport after the engine caught fire shortly after takeoff. The airline said that an investigation determined that bubble wrap had been sucked into the engine.