Alerts Sign-up
A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was forced to return to Newark Liberty International Airport on August 20 after smoke was reported in the cabin. The aircraft, operating flight UA1122 from Newark to Cape Town, South Africa, had 253 people onboard when the incident occurred less than an hour into the scheduled overnight journey.
According to data from Flightradar24, the pilots stopped their climb at 32,500 feet and made the decision to return to Newark. Before landing, the crew advised air traffic control that they would be dumping fuel over the sea to ensure a safe landing weight. The aircraft landed safely back in New Jersey just 55 minutes after departure and paused for inspection by emergency services before returning to its gate.
The aircraft involved, registered as N27965, was taken out of service for two days following the incident. It resumed operations with a flight to Delhi on August 22 after undergoing technical inspections. According to ch-aviation, this Boeing 787-9 is approximately nine and a half years old and is one of 45 such aircraft currently operated by United Airlines.
