A United Airlines Boeing 767 (UAL28) is reported to have been circling above the skies just off the Isle of Wight for the last two hours.
Update 15:15 UA28 Has just left holding pattern (see map).
Update 14.13 We now have an Industry expert update of the situation.
It was brought to our attention by @snooksville1 on Twitter. They said
@onthewight united airlines flight 28 holding at 12,000 ft above and by the island. Believed to be a tech fault. pic.twitter.com/sb0AK6VmKN
— j (@snooksville1) December 17, 2014
This was backed up by flight tracking service FlightRadar24, who tweeted,
United #UA28 from London to New York has been holding for 2 hours http://t.co/eoLVX7APg6 Reason unknown pic.twitter.com/Oax5Dv43Lq
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 17, 2014
Follow the live tracking here.
We’ll let you know once we hear more, but for the moment, fingers crossed the flight continues without problem.
Update 14.13
United Airlines website states the plane will land at 3pm at Heathrow Airport.
Expert airline insider
Update 14:48 OnTheWight contacted an expert airline insider to get the following details:
“There’s clearly something wrong, but looking at the information that’s currently available, it’s unlikely to be an out-and-out emergency.
“When a plane takes off, it has a lot of fuel on board (remember this was due to fly to New York). In this state it’s ‘overweight’ for landing. They can land, but it’s better to be able to get rid of the fuel. This can be done by dumping the fuel into the atmosphere, or by burning the fuel by flying around in a pattern like UA28 currently is.
“The Squawk (communications channel) that they’re on (7656) isn’t an emergency one, so that’s a good sign.”
Plane leaves holding pattern
Update 15:15 here’s the screen grab from flightradar24 as flight UA28 left its holding pattern on its way back to Heathrow.
UA28 lands at Heathrow
Update 15:47 After flying from near the Island, UA28 flew towards a point between Heathrow and Gatwick, where it circled again. It then made its way to Heathrow.
(Click graphics for larger versions)
Flightradar24 positioning is now reporting flight UA28 as landed at Heathrow, slightly after the time they were due to arrive in New York.
Update 20:49 : Changed excerpt to reflect the event has passed.
