Latest news with #Flight1731
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Frightening reason packed Boeing 777 flying from Denver to Hawaii made emergency landing in San Francisco
A packed United Airlines passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing in San Francisco after a faulty alarm indicated a cargo door was open. United Airlines Flight 1731, carrying 360 passengers and 10 crew members, was headed from Kona International Airport in Hawaii to Denver International Airport when the pilot got the nerve-wracking alert early Monday morning. A cargo door opening mid-flight poses a serious threat to the safety of everyone on board, as it can cause a rapid decrease in cabin pressure and oxygen. Believing one of the aircraft's doors may not be properly secured, the pilot diverted the Boeing 777 to San Francisco International Airport about six hours into the flight. The airplane safely landed at around 3:45am local time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced in a statement. The agency is investigating the incident. All of the affected passengers boarded different flights to make it to Denver on Monday morning. United officials confirmed the cargo door sensor sounding off was due to a technical issue. The door was secure the whole flight. An airline spokesperson told Business Insider the plane made its unexpected landing to 'address a malfunctioning door sensor.' They pointed to the aircraft being 28 years old. In March 2024, an Alaska Airlines plane experienced the opposite scenario - a cargo actually did open up, but it triggered no alert to flight staff. Alaska Airlines Flight 1437 from Los Cabos, Mexico, arrived at Portland International Airport with one of the doors slightly ajar. Photos obtained by KOIN 6 showed the Boeing 737 after landing, in which the door was seen cracked open. It's unclear how long the door was open for, but the flight did not make an emergency landing. There was no indication that the door was open during the flight, according to crew members, so it may have popped open once the plane reached the ground. Regardless, the incident was still described as a 'pretty major defect' by aviation expert Joe Schwieterman. 'It affects a lot of the electrical equipment in that cargo hold. So, it is troublesome that you may have a plane where some things like this went undetected,' he told KOIN 6. The expert said that such a defect should have triggered a sensor, which it did not appear to do. The horrifying event of a cargo door flying open mid-air is unlikely and considered 'impossible' above a 10,000-foot altitude, ABC reported. 'At cruising altitude there is enough pressure inside the cabin that it pushes the door against the hull of the airplane,' ABC News contributor and former Marine Col. Steve Ganyard told the outlet. 'As the airplane descends, then the pressure begins to equalize. It is possible at very low that door to be opened while the aircraft is still in flight.' A fatal cargo door related incident did occur in 1974 on a Turkish Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Business Insider reported. The door's latch came loose and led to rapid decompression on the plane, killing all 346 people onboard.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Over 300 United Airlines passengers were diverted when a faulty sensor told pilots that a cargo door was open
360 United Airlines passengers were diverted to San Francisco during a redeye flight. A flight-deck indicator said the cargo door was open — a potentially dangerous situation. However, it turned out that the door sensor was malfunctioning, the airline said. A United Airlines Boeing 777 diverted after an indicator wrongly told its pilots that the cargo door was open. Sunday's Flight 1731, from Hawaii's Kona International Airport, was supposed to land in Denver around 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday. Three hours into the journey, the plane descended below 10,000 feet as it flew over the Pacific Ocean, according to Flightradar24 data. It landed in San Francisco shortly before 4 a.m. local time, nearly six hours after leaving Hawaii. The trip to Denver usually takes about six hours, but flying so low requires a slower speed. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the pilots reported that an indicator said the cargo door was open. However, it turned out that the problem was actually with the indicator itself. An airline spokesperson told Business Insider that the plane diverted to "address a malfunctioning door sensor." The plane in question is 28 years old, suggesting a maintenance problem. There were 360 passengers and 10 crew members on board. "We have arranged for a different aircraft to take our customers to Denver Monday morning," the United spokesperson added. The FAA said it will investigate the incident. An open door on a plane would be a very dangerous situation, so it makes sense that the pilots were cautious and diverted to the nearest airport. Descending below 10,000 feet would also make the air on board breathable if the cabin had depressurized due to an opening. In 1974, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operated by Turkish Airlines suffered a fault with a cargo door latch. This led to an explosive decompression, which cut off critical controls and led to the deaths of all 346 people on board. It remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in history. Two years earlier, a cargo door on American Airlines Flight 96 broke off due to a design flaw with the DC-10. The rapid decompression caused the passenger cabin's floor to collapse, and eleven people were injured. Advancements in aviation safety and design mean such events are even rarer today. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
29-04-2025
- General
- Business Insider
Over 300 United Airlines passengers were diverted when a faulty sensor told pilots that a cargo door was open
A United Airlines Boeing 777 diverted after an indicator wrongly told its pilots that the cargo door was open. Sunday's Flight 1731, from Hawaii's Kona International Airport, was supposed to land in Denver around 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday. Three hours into the journey, the plane descended below 10,000 feet as it flew over the Pacific Ocean, according to Flightradar24 data. It landed in San Francisco shortly before 4 a.m. local time, nearly six hours after leaving Hawaii. The trip to Denver usually takes about six hours, but flying so low requires a slower speed. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the pilots reported that an indicator said the cargo door was open. However, it turned out that the problem was actually with the indicator itself. An airline spokesperson told Business Insider that the plane diverted to "address a malfunctioning door sensor." The plane in question is 28 years old, suggesting a maintenance problem. There were 360 passengers and 10 crew members on board. "We have arranged for a different aircraft to take our customers to Denver Monday morning," the United spokesperson added. The FAA said it will investigate the incident. An open door on a plane would be a very dangerous situation, so it makes sense that the pilots were cautious and diverted to the nearest airport. Descending below 10,000 feet would also make the air on board breathable if the cabin had depressurized due to an opening. In 1974, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operated by Turkish Airlines suffered a fault with a cargo door latch. This led to an explosive decompression, which cut off critical controls and led to the deaths of all 346 people on board. It remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in history. Two years earlier, a cargo door on American Airlines Flight 96 broke off due to a design flaw with the DC-10. The rapid decompression caused the passenger cabin's floor to collapse, and eleven people were injured. Advancements in aviation safety and design mean such events are even rarer today.
San Francisco Chronicle
28-04-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
United flight from Hawaii diverted to San Francisco after midair door alert
A United Airlines flight from Hawaii to Denver was forced to divert to San Francisco early Monday morning after a malfunctioning door sensor prompted precautionary measures, officials said. United Flight 1731, a Boeing 777-200, departed Kona International Airport at 6:56 p.m. Sunday and was en route to Denver when the crew received an alert indicating an open cargo door, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft landed safely at San Francisco International Airport around 3:45 a.m. local time, carrying 360 passengers and 10 crew members. A spokesperson for United Airlines confirmed the issue stemmed from a faulty sensor and said a different aircraft was dispatched to complete the trip to Denver later Monday.
