Several passengers and crew were injured when a United Airlines-operated Boeing 787-8 experienced “unexpected aircraft movement” on January 24, forcing the jet return to Lagos, Nigeria.
The Washington, DC-bound widebody aircraft – operating as flight UA613 – suddenly dropped in altitude, according to accounts posted on social media.
Shared images show the aircraft’s cabin strewn with refuse and overhead compartments splattered with what appears to be liquid from beverages.
In a response to FlightGlobal’s request for comment, United attributes the incident – which occurred with 245 passengers and 11 crew aboard – to an unspecified “technical issue”.
Notably, flight-tracking platform FlightAware shows a roughly 20min “gap in available data” during the time of the altitude loss.
The episode recalls a LATAM Airlines 787-9 that experienced a sudden “unintentional loss of altitude” early last year. Chilean investigators determined in that case that the in-flight disturbance was caused by an involuntary forward shift of the captain’s seat.
United says the 787 ”landed safely in Lagos and four passengers and two flight attendants were seen at a hospital for minor injuries and have been released”.
”We are working with aviation authorities in the US and Nigeria to understand the cause.”
