A Washington-bound United Airlines flight has been heavily delayed due to the APU causing significant smoke on the ground at London Heathrow.
N78003 is the Boeing 777, which was affected by this, having completed the UA880 rotation between Houston and London Heathrow yesterday.
Washington-bound Passengers Aren’t Going Anywhere…
Video from AirLive shows the APU producing a big plume of smoke whilst being towed onto Stand 235 at London Heathrow.
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At this time, it is unclear when passengers on the Washington D.C flight will be able to continue on from London.
As per data from Planespotters.net, N78003 is a 24.8-year-old Boeing 777-200 that started out with Continental Airlines in November 1998.
In October 2010, the aircraft was then transferred over to United after the merger between the two sides took place.
The Flight from Heathrow Currently Marked as Delayed…
As mentioned previously, the flight between London Heathrow and Washington D.C is currently marked as delayed, which could very well turn into a cancellation.
United would need to send an additional aircraft to pick passengers up to operate the flight, so it is currently unclear what the plan of action is.
All eyes will now be on United to see what those next steps are, and whether a substitute flight can be arranged instead.
It is all dependent on flight availability for alternatives out of London Heathrow, with these flights typically packed anyway.
This is a developing story. More to follow in due course. AviationSource will approach United Airlines for a comment.
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