A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 was forced to dump fuel and return to Johannesburg tonight after the landing gear failed to retract after takeoff.
United Airlines 787-9 Diverts After Landing Gear Issue
United flight 187 took off from O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg this evening at 8:29 pm, bound for Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). The flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft (registration N27958), first delivered in March 2015.
Moments after takeoff, the landing gear failed to retract, prompting the aircraft to circle around Johannesburg and dump fuel before returning to JNB. The flight landed at O.R. Tambo at 9:42 pm local time, exactly one hour and 13 minutes later. The aircraft is currently undergoing maintenance.
Thus far, United has told customers:
Our maintenance team needs to evaluate a technical issue on your plane before we depart again. We appreciate your patience, and we’ll keep you updated as we get more information.
But a Live And Let’s Fly reader onboard has filled us in on the landing gear issue.
The plane was scheduled to take off again at 10:20 pm local time, but has yet to take off as of 11:00 pm local time.
We’ve reached out to United for a statement. This marks yet another incident this week (after a lost wheel incident on a 757-200) calling into question United’s maintenance record and this was not even an older jet…it is less than a decade old.
UPDATE: The delay has been extended to 11:50 pm local time.
The crew will eventually time out, so if this flight does not get in the air soon, it will be canceled…
UPDATE: The flight canceled
top image: United Airlines 787-9 flying over Johannesburg
As a 1K United member who regularly travels the route between Johannesburg and Newark, I find it increasingly disconcerting to hear of United’s regular mechanical issues. Last week Monday (July 1st), the same flight was cancelled. This places undue pressure on passengers who have made their travel plans according to schedules. I may have to revert to flying through Doha, Dubai, or London if United continues to disappoint like this.
Now we have the reason why that retired UA executive avoided flying this route to connect to his safari in Tanzania. It’s not just the food.
Anyone going to South Africa is foolish , unless one has a very very good reason . One would have no protection , as in Haiti , Iran , Afghanistan , Zimbabwe , Oakland , or Mexico .
Wow. Flew this plane in December 2015, from LAX to MEL, when it was a few months old.
The flight has ended up canceling!
this is such a big story to cover—must not have anything important to do
I wouldn’t say it calls into question the maintenance of UAL. Malfunctions happen, even on new products, and even with the best of maintenance. This is one of those incidents. Things that can go wrong eventually will. Good maintenance prevents them from becoming bigger problems and allows the aircraft to land safely, and soon depart to continue decades of safe revenue service. Usually you don’t do alarmist posts, and I’ll stop short of calling this alarmist, but it’s borderline 🙂
Because some people like drama and want to put themselves in the story.
To clarify, I think the story is fine. I’m referring to some of the comments.
Matt you are so right!
The flight is cancelled now!
I hope the passengers will be put in hotels and they will arrange a replacement flight! I know it is “winter” over in South Africa, but air traffic is very busy. I don’t know if it is easy to route them through Europe or Middle East!