An engine of United Airlines’ plane with over 200 passengers on board suddenly collapsed, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.
More than two hours after its scheduled departure time, Flight 108 left Washington Dulles at approximately 8 pm on Friday, July 25.
After approximately 30 minutes in the air, the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner returned to the airport, which is located just outside the country’s capital.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and United both issued different statements claiming that this was due to “a mechanical issue.”
More information about the incident was provided in air traffic control audio that was first posted to YouTube and then published by LiveATC.net.
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United flight declares ‘emergency, mayday’
The flight bounded for Germany’s Munich declared “an emergency, mayday, mayday, mayday,” following the engine failure, as per the cockpit and air traffic control audio published on the YouTube channel You can see ATC.
“Engine failure, left engine,” a pilot can be heard stating. “Attention all aircraft, fuel dumping in progress, 10 miles west of Dulles,” the tower can be heard sending an alert.
United Airlines flight issues statement
In a statement on Monday, United announced that the Boeing 787 carrying 219 passengers and 11 staff members had to return for Dulles International Airport when Flight 108 was en route to Munich.
As the jet emptied fuel to make sure it was the right weight for landing, the records showed that the pilot and air traffic control calmly facilitated the return arrangements.
The plane “returned to Washington Dulles shortly after takeoff to address a mechanical issue,” as per the statement.
“The plane landed safely, and all passengers deplaned normally at the gate,” the Chicago-based jet continued. “The flight was subsequently canceled and we arranged alternate travel arrangements to take customers to their destination as soon as possible.”
FAA announces probe
In a statement, the FAA announced that it is looking into “possible engine issues” that may have occurred on the United flight.
At 5:40 p.m. EST, Flight 108 was supposed to depart Dulles, fly over the Atlantic all night, and touchdown at Munich International Airport at 5:40 a.m. CEST the following day.
However, the airline monitoring database FlightAware reports that this particular aircraft, Flight 108, departed Dulles at 6:11 p.m. EDT and returned to the same airport at 8:49 p.m.
