A United flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Rome (FCO) was diverted twice in a row within three days and a third flight was canceled. All three flights were scheduled to operate as United Flight 507.
First flight: diversion to Sacramento (SMF)
The first diverted flight landed at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) one hour after takeoff. The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER with the registration N204UA. There were 148 passengers on board.
United told the news that the reason was a mechanical problem with the engine. One of the passengers said a flight attendant said an engine was overheating and they had to divert to a nearby airport.
The Boeing 777 landed in Sacramento without further incident and is still on the ground in Sacramento at the time of writing. It appears that a Boeing 737 MAX 9 was ferrying passengers back to San Francisco Airport 3 hours and 30 minutes after landing in Sacramento.
Second flight: diversion to Edmonton (YEG)
The second diverted flight landed at Edmonton International Airport in Canada 5 hours and 50 minutes after takeoff. The flight was operated by another Boeing 777-200ER with the registration N57016. There were 256 passengers and 14 crew members on board.
United stated that the reason for the diversion was a medical emergency as a passenger on board required medical attention. This explains why the flight took a long detour to a more distant airport rather than immediately landing at a nearby diversion airport.
About an hour after landing in Edmonton, the 777 took off again, but not to Rome, but returned to its departure point, San Francisco International Airport, at 3:22 a.m. local time. The plane had its rest day on the 15th, as the flight did not reach Rome for obvious reasons, and is scheduled to fly to Tokyo-Haneda today, August 16.
United said the passengers on board were transferred to United Flight 3035, operated by another Boeing 777-200ER with the registration N216UA. UA3035 departed later that day at 5:25 p.m. local time, more than 12 hours after the passengers landed at their departure point. The flight landed in Rome without incident.
Third flight: Cancelled
The third flight, which was scheduled to depart on August 15, was cancelled. The flight was to be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER with the registration N226UA, but after the cancellation the 777 flew to Zurich instead. At the time of writing this article, it is currently on its way back and operating the return flight.
Interestingly, this aircraft was involved in an incident in early March this year when, after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport to Japan, one of its tires fell off, damaging several cars on the ground. The aircraft was safely diverted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
According to a United spokesman, the flight was canceled “so that we can use the crew and aircraft for the extra leg scheduled for later today.”
At the time of writing, there are no other cancellations or delays for the San Francisco to Rome flight. UA507 is scheduled to depart SFO to FCO today, August 16, promptly at 4:30 p.m. local time.
