Second United Airlines flight makes emergency landing after 'smoke in cockpit'

PA

A second United Airlines flight departing from New York's Newark Liberty International Airport in the last two days has had to make an emergency landing.

According to nbc-2.com, United Flight 409 heading for Seattle returned to the airport at 9.15am on Sunday after reports of smoke in the cabin and cockpit.

The incident happened just 13 hours after an engine fire forced another United Airlines plane to abort a flight out of Newark on Saturday night.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen released a statement today which addressed both flights.

According to nj.com, in the case of Flight 409, it said "preliminary indications are a possible problem with the air conditioning system."

Referring to the problem on Saturday night, it said the Boeing 757 "experienced an unusual smell in the cockpit, and out of an abundance of caution, returned to Newark, landing safely".

The 172 passengers on Flight 409 suffered no injuries and were given the option of boarding a 12.59pm flight to Seattle.

The incident on Saturday night was reported to have been more serious, with witnesses saying they saw flames coming from the aircraft at about 6.30pm after a 5.50pm take-off.

The plane was forced to circle over New Jersey for almost two hours to burn off fuel before landing.

It landed safely at 8.05pm, and the blaze was quickly extinguished. No passengers were injured.

Related articles

United Airlines flight makes emergency landing when engine catches fire

Plane makes emergency landing after man sets fire to friend's hair


Sign up to our weekly newsletterFollow us on TwitterBecome a fan on Facebook