
Flight Scare In US As Boeing 787 Declares "Mayday" Soon After Takeoff
A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operated by United Airlines, experienced a mid-air scare last week due to a critical engine failure. The Munich-bound United Airlines Flight UA108 was climbing out of Washington Dulles Airport on its scheduled transatlantic journey on July 25, when its left engine failed, prompting the crew to declare a "MAYDAY".
The engine malfunction was reported shortly after the flight departed from Washington Dulles and reached an altitude of 5,000 feet. The crew soon declared an emergency and worked closely with air traffic controllers to ensure a safe emergency landing.
According to data from FlightAware, the aircraft remained airbound for 2 hours and 38 minutes, circling northwest of Washington in a holding pattern to safely dump fuel before landing back at Washington Dulles Airport.
During this time, the United Airlines pilots requested air traffic controllers (ATC) for fuel dumping while maintaining an altitude of 6,000 feet to manage the plane's weight and entered a holding pattern northwest of Washington, a report by aviationa2z said.
The controllers guided them on how to ensure safe separation from other air traffic while the aircraft safely discharged fuel. Once the dump was complete, pilots sought permission to land using an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach on Runway 19 Centre.
Upon landing, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner could not move on its own and had to be towed off the runway due to the disabled left engine. It remained grounded at Washington Dulles Airport as of Monday.
There were no injuries in the incident, and the technical malfunction is expected to be investigated further by the airline and relevant aviation authorities.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
United Airlines system outage: When will issues be fixed, ground stop end? Company responds
A system-wide outage at United Airlines caused major disruptions across several airports on Wednesday. Flights were grounded and operations were delayed. According to DownDetector, platform that tracks online outages, the issue peaked at about 8 PM EDT. The company issued a statement, addressing concerns among travelers. United Airlines planes land and prepare to take off at Newark Liberty International Airport in NewarkUnited Airlines outage(REUTERS) 'United Airlines is having a system outage that's prompted it to hold departures. The airline has requested ground stops for UA flights at DEN, EWR, IAH, ORD and SFO currently. United expects additional delays this evening,' one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. 'Stuck on the tarmac in New Orleans… no planes moving. No weight & balance data. Just vibes,' another one added. Read More: United Airlines ground stop: Which airports are affected by system outage? At Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, a traveler claimed they had been waiting for over five hours. 'No United planes are leaving the tarmac. This is crazy,' they wrote. United Airlines addresses concerns United Airlines acknowledged the system failure on social media and began responding to individual customer concerns. In one reply, the airline wrote: 'We're aware of the system error at this time and are working on a fix to have you on your way as soon as possible. We understand that this disruption has caused frustrations during your travel and appreciate your continued patience.' While the airline confirmed efforts were underway to resolve the outage, no official timeline has been given for when the ground stop would be lifted or when normal operations would resume. A CBS reporter stated that 'United expects additional delays this evening'. A traveler noted that the outage could last hours. 'The pilot just announced that the whole United system is down and he has no more information than we do but he will release the plane in 15 minutes if nothing changes. This will cause a lot of chaos in the United States for those of us flying tonight,' they said on social media.


Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Bird slams into plane nose: Cabin filled with smoke mid-air; panic on Paris-bound flight — watch
Mid-air scare for Iberia's Paris-bound flight A passenger plane flying to Paris was forced to make an emergency landing just moments after takeoff from Madrid Airpost, leaving passengers in panic. The emergency landing was prompted with a bird colliding into the plane's nose. Chaotic scenes from inside the plane were captured by a passenger on the plane who recounted the moments of fear while talking to ABC News saying that they intially believed it to be just turbulence. "We thought that it was the turbulence that the captain was talking about, but then we started hearing a noise... and we were like, okay, something's going on," said passenger Giancarlo Sandoval. Another video shared on social media captured nearly half of the plane's nose being wiped out. Sandoval documented the alarming moments in the air as passengers donned oxygen masks amidst smoke filling the cabin. Bird strike forces emergency landing in Spain During the incident, a baby was heard hysterically crying in the background as scared passengers sat frozen in silence. Following the incident, Iberia released the following statement assuring safety of all involved. "The entire flight crew, including pilots and cabin crew, acted with the utmost professionalism in managing the situation and attending to the passengers," it said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 20 Pieces of Clothing you should Ditch over 40 Learn More Undo ABC News contributor Col. Steve Ganyard, USMC (Ret.), stated that bird strikes are very common. "Fewer than 10% of those bird strikes cause damage to the aircraft," Ganyard said, "In this case, the damage was severe enough to one of the engines that it caused smoke coming into the cabin," it added. The flight destined for Paris Orly Airport in France returned safely to Spain's capital after being airborne for only 20 minutes, NY Post sources reported. The situation calmed when the plane landed safely, leading passengers to clap in relief.


New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
Six aircraft engine shutdown incidents reported this year: Civil Aviation Ministry
NEW DELHI: A total of six aircraft engine shutdown incidents and three incidents of May Day calls have been reported so far this year, according to the civil aviation ministry. As per data shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol with the Rajya Sabha, there have been two incidents of engine shutdown, each involving IndiGo and SpiceJet, while Air India and Alliance Air had one such incident each. There have been three incidents of May Day Call, including for the Air India aircraft operating the London Gatwick-bound flight AI 171 that crashed into a building soon after take off from Ahmedabad on June 12. IndiGo and Air India Express also had one incident each of May Day Call. A pilot repeats May Day thrice to clearly communicate with the air traffic controller on the ground that the aircraft is in a life-threatening situation and needs urgent help.