LONDON – A United Airlines flight from Mexico City to San Francisco was forced to turn around shortly after takeoff and make an emergency landing on Saturday, December 17 at around 21:20 UTC.
Safety First
It is understood that the flight turned back due to a full flow problem, in which the pilots noticed there was unequal fuel flow coming from the tanks, which would have risked a lopsided effect had they continued the flight, however, it is important to say that there was no direct danger to life or safety of the aircraft over this.
The pilot made an announcement on the PA and was recorded saying: “We’re really sorry about this. Soon after we took off, it was pretty obvious the fuel wasn’t flowing in a balanced way. So the fuel tanks were quickly becoming lopsided in weight so we needed to get to Mexico City as soon as possible,”
Fire trucks were called to follow the aircraft for the landing, as with the additional weight there were much higher than normal break temperatures, the pilots said that it was just procedure and they were on standby only as a precaution.
A spokesperson for United Airlines tells ABC7 News that the flight “returned to Mexico City out of an abundance of caution due to a mechanical issue.”
The passengers were later loaded onto a later flight, landing back in San Francisco at 22:52PST, rather than the originally planned 16:00PST.
History of N495UA
The aircraft involved is a 20-year-old Airbus A320-200 N495UA it was delivered to the carrier back in August 2002, it has been a part of United’s fleet its entire operating life, and was also at one point even a part of the airline’s TED brand from November 2003, til January 2009, where it was repainted back into the United paint scheme.
It is configured into a two-class format, with 12 business and 138 economy seats, and is already back in service it seems, with the aircraft conducting a flight from Mexico City to Washington (IAD) as flight UA1567.
Source: Abc 7 news
