A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Honolulu was forced to return to San Francisco after experiencing a mechanical issue. The aircraft – a Boeing 757-300 – is reported to have suffered a problem with its rudder before landing safely.
United 757 rudder issue
On Wednesday, United Airlines Flight 2380 took off from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at 11:48 en route to Honolulu International Airport (HNL). According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the crew reported a possible rudder problem and switched the plane’s transponder to emergency code 7700.
Data from FlightRadar24.com shows the Boeing 757 began squawking 7700 at 12:24 and dropped to FL 290, before initiating a turnaround above the North Pacific Ocean a few minutes later. The aircraft flew for approximately another hour before landing safely at SFO at 13:30.
As reported by CBS News, a United spokesperson commented,
“United flight 2380 returned to San Francisco earlier this afternoon to address a mechanical issue. The flight landed safely, and we’ve arranged for another aircraft to take our customers to their destinations.”
The airline confirmed that there were 223 passengers and seven crew members onboard the flight – United Airlines operates a total of five daily flights between San Francisco and Honolulu, deploying its 757, 777 and 737 MAX 9 planes on this route.
About N77871
The 757 that suffered the rudder issue (registration: N77871) remains on the ground at the time of publication, with no word on the extent of its mechanical issue or anticipated return to service. N77871 is a 20-year-old Boeing 757-300 that entered service with ATA Airlines in 2003 before joining United’s fleet in 2010.
Passengers onboard the aircraft eventually made it to their destination after United arranged a replacement aircraft. Another Boeing 757 (registration: N75851) completed the diverted flight, arriving in Honolulu at 19:04 at a delay of around five hours.
FAA to investigate
The FAA will launch an investigation into this incident – rudder issues can be extremely dangerous depending on the circumstances, so yesterday’s flight was fortunate to arrive back in San Francisco unscathed.
In 1991, United Flight 585 from Denver to Colorado Springs crashed on approach to Colorado Springs due to a rudder issue, killing all 25 onboard, with investigators initially unable to determine the cause of the crash.
Photo: sockagphoto/Shutterstock
Following a similar accident involving a USAir Boeing 737 in 1994, the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) reopened its investigation and concluded a rudder power control unit servo malfunction was to blame – Simple Flying took an in-depth look at these two incidents, which forced Boeing to fix a rudder design flaw in the 737.
Were you on United Airlines flight 2380 from San Francisco to Honolulu on Wednesday? Let us know what happened in the comments section.
Source: CBS News, FlightRadar24.com