A United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong had a scare on Friday. Shortly after takeoff, passengers and crew reported smelling smoke in the cabin. The pilots decided to play it safe and divert the plane to San Francisco.
The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, landed safely in San Francisco about 45 minutes after leaving Los Angeles. Everyone on board got off the plane safely. United Airlines is looking into what caused the smoke.
This is actually the third time this month that a United Airlines flight has had to divert due to a problem. On April 6th, a United Airlines 777 flying from Rome to Washington had to turn back after experiencing a compressor stall (loud bang and flames from the engine). Luckily, no one was hurt, and the plane landed safely in Rome.
Earlier this week, a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Washington had to return to Chicago because of a non-credible threat found written in a bathroom. Passengers were eventually flown to Washington on a different plane, but they arrived several hours later than expected.
Even though these diversions can be scary, it’s important to remember that the safety of the passengers and crew is always the top priority. In all three of these cases, the pilots made the right decision to land the plane.
