Operational Woes Continue to Plague United Airlines as Three Additional Flights Encounter Issues After Departure

United Airlines’ operations are under great scrutiny these days and not for naught. Indeed, anytime a United Airlines aircraft sneezes, it tends to make the news.

This past week, a United flight from San Francisco International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was diverted to Denver on Thursday after the flight crew observed an issue with one of the Boeing 777’s engines.

The following day, several people were hospitalized after a flight from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey had to divert on final approach after encountering wind shear.

The San Francisco-Paris flight had left the gate at 5:57 p.m. local time and was wheels up 30 minutes later. The flight crew opted to land at Denver International Airport, where it touched down at 10:54 p.m. local time and arrived at the gate at 11:03 p.m. The airline confirmed the incident in a statement to Frequent Business Traveler and said that there had been a safe landing and passengers deplaned normally via a jetbridge at the terminal

A spokesman for the airline told FBT that the airline had cancelled the flight after the landing in Denver because there were no other aircraft at that airport with sufficient capacity to continue the service to Paris. Passengers were instead rebooked on other flights departing on Friday.

Meanwhile, passengers on the flight from Israel to the New York metropolitan area had quite a scare thanks to the turbulence created by the wind shear.

Over 300 passengers and crew were on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner when the plane experienced clear air wind shear and the pilots requested a go-around at an altitude of 750’. Low on fuel, the flight was then diverted to New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, approximately 75 miles (121 km) away.

One passenger who had been on the flight said in a post on social media that it was like being on a rollercoaster.

That flight landed at Stewart Airport at 6:12 p.m. local time, after almost 14 hours in the air.

A total of seven passengers were taken to Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall hospital with minor injuries. Some reported possible motion sickness, New Windsor EMS told reporters.

“We had 320 people on the plane,” said Michael Bigg, an official at the emergency services organization. “We evaluated about 30 people and we transported seven to a local hospital just for observation, no major injuries or ailments but most people want to get checked out at the emergency room.”

The flight, using the same aircraft, then refueled and continued to Newark at 8:03 p.m. and landed, minus the hospitalized passengers, at its original destination 50 minutes later.

Finally, last week the flight crew of a different United Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft operating as Flight 35 with a flight plan taking it from San Francisco Airport to Osaka International Airport, also known as Itami Airport, was alerted to an engine problem while the aircraft was on taxi to the runway.

The plane returned to the gate and departure was delayed by four hours and 51 minutes.

The 777 arrived in Osaka at 9:48 p.m. local time, six hours later than originally scheduled.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)