United flight approaching SFO has near miss with another aircraft; 2 passengers hospitalized
An United flight bound for San Francisco International Airport had to suddenly slow its descent to avoid another aircraft last week, leading to the hospitalization of two passengers, the airline said Tuesday.
According to a preliminary statement issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, United Airlines flight 2428 responded to an onboard alert that another aircraft was in the vicinity at around 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, "while traveling through Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center Airspace." The United flight subsequently landed safely at SFO.
The FAA said that "there was no loss of safe separation," which means that the minimum distance between the two aircraft was maintained.
According to United officials, United flight 2428 "was descending to SFO on Sept. 19 with the seatbelt sign on when it slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude."
According to the airline's statement, two customers, "including one who was out of their seat at the time," reported possible injuries and were taken to an area hospital after the flight landed safely.
"We're grateful to our crew for their efforts to ensure the safety of our employees and customers," the statement concluded.
The FAA is investigating the incident.
The close call last week is the latest Bay Area United flight to have issues this year, with a number of the problems involving flights to or from San Francisco.
Last month, a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Rome was diverted twice in the space of two days. The first time, the flight was diverted to Sacramento because of an unspecified mechanical issue and later returned to SFO. The second diversion happened with the flight landing in Alberta, Canada, because of a medical issue aboard the plane.
Back in April, a United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco from Germany was forced to return to its point of origin in Frankfurt when the Boeing 777 "a maintenance issue with one of the aircraft's lavatories," according to airline officials.
German media outlet Bild said that passengers reported that the contents of one of the plane's toilets flowed into the main cabin on the flight. The scheduled 12-hour flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco was cut short after the incident led the pilot to circle over the North Sea before returning to the Frankfurt Airport.
A day before that incident, another United international flight from San Francisco to Paris was forced to divert to Denver due to an engine issue.
A week before that, the fuselage panel of a United Airlines flight — a Boeing 737-800 — was discovered missing after the plane landed at an airport in Medford, Oregon, after having departed San Francisco, officials said.
The rash of incidents on United flights stretches back to March 4, with multiple United aircrafts facing problems that forced flights to return to their point of departure or make emergency landings, including a wheel coming off a Boeing 777.
In response, United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline is reviewing the series of what he called "unrelated" cases and adding extra training for pilots.