Due to a maintenance issue over the Pacific, some United Airlines passengers will not be able to go to Australia for the new year.
The 7,488-mile journey from Los Angeles to Sydney is operated by United Airlines. The flight that was scheduled to take off at 10:55PM on Thursday, December 29, 2022, and land in Sydney at 9:15AM on Saturday, December 31, 2022, was supposed to take off that night. Most of the passengers were excited to see in the new year in Australia.
The flight was operated by a seven-year-old Boeing 787-9 with the registration code N38955. For roughly the first seven hours, the flight operated as planned, flying southwest over the Pacific Ocean, including flying to the south of Hawaii.
The plane's right engine had to be shut down due to some engine issues. It is not a good situation when you are flying in a remote area. The flight was just north of Kiribati at this point.
The United 787 descended from its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet down to 20,000 feet, where it spent nearly three hours on the water.
After 10 hours in the air, the plane diverted to Pago Pago, American Samoa, which is on the opposite side of the International Date Line of Australia.
Travelers can enter with a US passport if they have one. I don't know if that was a factor in the decision to divert there.
United Airlines does a great job of keeping disruptions to a minimum. Finding a spare Boeing and sending it to Pago Pago is no small task, especially when you consider that you also need to find a crew that is legal to work the trip, while not disrupting other passengers.
The Boeing 787-9 was dispatched from Australia to Pago Pago. The plane was two years old and had the registration code N 24979. It is thought that United canceled its flight from Australia to Houston just before the new year.
It took the plane 2,736 miles to arrive in Pago Pago on New Year's Eve.
The plane is scheduled to leave Pago Pago at 3 AM on December 31, 2022, and arrive in Australia at 7 AM on January 1, 2023. It is quite some time travel.
Passengers are expected to arrive in Sydney around 22 hours late. How passengers spent their 21 hours on the ground in Pago Pago is a big question.
An engine issue over the Pacific Ocean led to the engine being shut down and the plane dropping altitude. Passengers on the flight are currently on the ground in Pago Pago.
United sent a rescue plane and crew to Pago Pago, which has now landed, and should be taking passengers to the airport in the morning of January 1st. I think United did a good job.
What do you think about United?
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