A United Airlines flight was traveling to the US from Switzerland on Tuesday, May 5 when a fire broke out in a power outlet and the plane was forced to land at a major UK airport
An international flight was forced to land a major UK airport after a fire broke out on broad.
A United Airlines flight was traveling to the US from Switzerland on Tuesday, May 5 when a fire broke out in a power outlet. The flight was forced to divert and land at London’s Heathrow Airport. It was en route to Newark Liberty International Airport.
The flight had taken off from Zurich at 10.15am and was in the air for only 50 minutes when the crew issued squawk code 7700. This is an international distress code, according to AirLive.
“United Flight 135 safely diverted to London Heathrow after our inflight crew quickly extinguished a small fire in a power outlet,” a United spokesperson told People.
The spokesperson did not specify how the fire started. Passengers safely deplaned, according to the airline.
Earlier this week, an unrelated United Airlines flight struck a light pole and truck while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.
United Airlines Flight 169 was landing at the airport on Sunday, May 3, when it struck a light pole on the adjacent New Jersey Turnpike. Footage subsequently emerged which shows the plane also struck a bakery truck.
The flight, which was arriving from Venice, Italy, was travelling more than 257km per hour when it crossed over the turnpike, just outside of the airport, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24.
A preliminary investigation found that a tyre from the plane’s landing gear and the underside of the plane “collided with a pole and a tractor-trailer. The pole then struck a Jeep,” New Jersey State Police spokesman SFC Charles Marchan said in a statement.
Dashcam footage from within the bakery truck showed the driver travelling. The truck was travelling north on the turnpike to deliver bread products to a Newark airport depot when the incident occurred.