SAN FRANCISCO — In the latest of a series of disappointing and disturbing incidents in one week, United Airlines was compelled to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles on a Mexico City-bound flight from San Francisco as it faced a hydraulic problem. This makes for the fourth such incident relating to the airline this week.
It touched down safely at Los Angeles International Airport at about 4:30 p.m. and none of the 110 passengers on board was hurt, United Airlines said in a statement. Fire trucks stood by at the airport, but never needed to act, according to Nicholas Prange, a Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman.
United Airlines responded by saying that passengers were being booked onto a different flight to Mexico, departing later on Friday. The aircraft do have safety measures as, according to the airline, “The Airbus A320 has three hydraulic systems to provide triple redundancy. Preliminary information is that only one hydraulic system on this aircraft experienced an issue.”
The FAA says it intends to investigate the circumstances surrounding Friday’s emergency landing.
The incident capped a week of aviation mishaps for United Airlines: a separate United Airlines flight bound for Houston, Texas was forced to evacuate its passengers after a detour from the runway left it stuck in the grass. United Airlines said none of the 160 passengers and six crew on board were injured.
Social media images of the aftermath of the Houston incident showed the aircraft listing, its wing alarmingly low to the ground.
In another incident Thursday, a United Airlines flight bound for Japan was diverted to Los Angeles shortly after taking off from San Francisco because of a lost tire. No one was hurt.
The surveillance video, obtained by ABC News, shows that within seconds of its takeoff, one of the six tires attached to the left-side main landing gear assembly became dislodged from the plane and landed in an employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport. The tire destroyed a car, finally coming to rest in the adjacent lot.
In one incident earlier in the week, a flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Texas, turned back to Houston when an engine of the aircraft caught fire. The passengers were able to capture on camera the moment when flames could be seen to emanate from the engine, although fortunately, no injuries were reported in the incident involving the Boeing 737.
These back-to-back emergencies have cast a spotlight on United Airlines’ operational safety, with investigations being launched and questions raised over measures put in place to ensure passengers and crew are safe.