A United Airlines Airbus A319 aborted take-off at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental airport following the discovery of an unspecified “engine issue”.
The aircraft, which was operating as flight UA1382 to New York’s LaGuardia airport on 2 February, was carrying 104 passengers and five crew members. United says there are no reports of injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, says the flight crew rejected take-off on Runway 15R after reporting an “engine issue” at around 08:35 local time. According to United, the flight crew had “received an indication” about one engine – reported to be the No. 2 engine.
Flight-tracking data indicates the aircraft involved is N837UA (MSN1474), a 24-year-old A319. The aircraft is powered by a pair of IAE V2500 engines.
Initial media reports suggest that the No. 2 engine had caught fire, with social media footage showing what looked like flames from under the wing. However, the Houston Fire Department says it “did not put out a fire”.
“When our units arrived, there was no fire to put out,” the department says in a post on X.
The incident follows a spate of fatal aviation accidents in the USA. On 29 January, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet crashed into a Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk operated by the US Army, marking the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in 16 years with no survivors reported.
Then on 31 January, a Learjet 55 business jet crashed after departing Northeast Philadelphia airport.
