Why did Munich-bound United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight declare ‘Mayday' after take-off?
The flight was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with callsign UA108.
This comes days after US manufacturing company Boeing faced heat after an Air India flight travelling to London's Gatwick Airport crashed after takeoff in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.
The incident, which marked the first fatal crash of a 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, claimed the lives of 260 people.
Why did the flight declare 'Mayday'?
The United Airlines flight's left engine failed moments after taking off from Washington. The engine malfunctioned at an altitude of around 5,000 feet on July 25.
Following this, the pilots informed the air traffic controllers about the situation and initiated emergency procedures to land safely at the airport.
After issuing the 'Mayday' alert, the flight continued to circle northwest of Washington in a holding pattern. This was done to safely dump the fuel before landing back at the Washington Dulles Airport.
The flight was air-bound for 2 hours 38 minutes before it landed back at the airport, data from FlightAware showed.
The incident comes days after an emergency situation unfolded in an American Airlines flight at the Denver International Airport.
The passengers aboard the American Airlines flight AA 3023 were evacuated from the aircraft through emergency slides after they experienced smoke in the cabin.
The aircraft, which was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 travelling to Miami, was involved in a 'possible landing gear incident', according to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The airline later clarified that the issue was caused due to an aircraft tire.
The American Airlines pilots also called for fuel dumping and coordinated with the ATC operators to ensure safe separation from the air traffic in the region in order to safely discharge the fuel, an Aviation A2Z report stated.
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