Four passengers and two crewmembers were injured on Friday when a United Airlines flight heading from Nigeria’s Lagos to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia made a sudden in-flight movement, CNN reported, citing United Airlines.
Videos captured by passengers shows chaos in flight, with trays, food and other objects scattered across the floor of the aircraft. The airline said that Flight 613 made an emergency landing back in Lagos and the six injured people on board were rushed to nearby hospital.
United Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott said that they have all since been released. It is not clear on what caused the in-flight jolt. However, United Airlines has said that severe turbulence was not the cause of in-flight jolt and added that it is “working with aviation authorities in the US and Nigeria to understand the cause.”
According to flight data from FlightRadar24, Flight 613 started descending abruptly from cruising altitude approximately 93 minutes after the takeoff, CNN reported. The same plane, heading from Lagos to Washington’s Dulles International Airport had previously been diverted on Tuesday, according to data from FlightRadar.
The altitude data from the aircraft showed a rapid descent of 1,000 feet about 89 minutes after the takeoff. It is not clear whether the diversions of UA613 are connected.
The flight on Friday was carrying 245 passengers, eight flight attendants and three pilots, according to United Airline. The airline said it is currently working to place passengers on other flights, according to CNN report.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Michael Achimugu has confirmed the incident, CNN reported, citing state-run Radio Nigeria. He said that there were no fatalities and passengers were accomodated in hotels, the report further said.
The Friday incident involving a Boeing 787, which was subject to review by the Federal Aviation Administration after a mid-air dive of a Latam Airlines flight in March last year. In that previous incident, investigators found that pilot’s seat in the plane had lurched forward and into the control column of the flight, resulting in aircraft’s nose to drop.
Days after the Latam Airlines incident, Boeing sent an advisory to airlines that operate the Boeing 787 suggesting they carry out inspection in the cockpit seat switches on the planes. (ANI)
