United Airlines Boeing 777 makes emergency landing after engine failure
What's the story
A United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, operating Flight 803, was forced to return to Washington Dulles International Airport shortly after takeoff on Saturday. The aircraft was headed for Tokyo's Haneda Airport when it suffered an engine failure at around 12:20pm local time. A piece of the engine cover had separated and caught fire, triggering a brush fire near the runway.
Safety measures
Emergency response and runway closure at Dulles
The aircraft, which had 275 passengers and 15 crew members on board, landed safely with no injuries reported. However, the incident did cause a brief disruption to one runway at Dulles International Airport. An airport spokesperson confirmed that "the fire was extinguished" and the flight returned safely. The spokesperson added that "Dulles has multiple runways and other flight operations were not impacted."
Emergency procedures
Fuel dumping and investigation into United Airlines incident
As part of standard emergency procedures, the aircraft dumped fuel over Fredericksburg, Virginia, before landing. This was done to reduce the plane's weight for a safe emergency landing. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into this incident. Boeing, however, has declined to comment on the technical aspects and referred all queries to United Airlines.
Passenger accommodation
Replacement aircraft for United Airlines passengers
After the incident, passengers were shifted to a replacement aircraft. Flight 803 eventually departed for Haneda later on Saturday, around six-and-a-half hours after its originally scheduled departure time. This incident comes just months after another emergency landing involving United Airlines in October when a pilot was injured after an object shattered the cockpit windshield mid-flight.