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Second United Dreamliner diverted with oil-related problem

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United Airlines 787 Dreamliner jets are seen parked on the tarmac at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Donna Carson

United Airlines 787 Dreamliner jets are seen parked on the tarmac at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas January 17, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Donna Carson

SEATTLE | Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:10pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - United Airlines (UAL.N) said on Thursday one of its Boeing Co (BA.N) 787 Dreamliners was diverted from its trans-Atlantic flight plan because of a low oil indication, making it the second 787 flight in three days to be cut short due to an oil-related problem.

United flight 125 from London's Heathrow airport to Houston diverted to Newark, New Jersey due to a low oil indication, United said in an emailed statement. The airline said the aircraft landed normally and without incident around 2:15 p.m. local time and customers were put on other flights.

The unscheduled diversion follows an incident on Tuesday, when a United 787 on its way to Tokyo from Denver was diverted to Seattle after an indication of a problem with an oil filter in an engine. That plane also landed without incident.

Boeing said the two incidents were not related.

"We will work with United and General Electric to complete the appropriate maintenance and testing activities, and return the airplane to service," Boeing said in an emailed statement. "This is not related to the issue another United airplane experienced earlier this week."

General Electric Co (GE.N), the maker of the engines on United's 787s, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Diversions of planes due to technical problems are not uncommon, but the 787 is under the microscope due to the financial importance of Boeing's new carbon-fiber plane and its checkered production history.

The airplane was more than three years late coming off the production line and finally entered service in late 2011. It was grounded worldwide in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two of its jets in about a week, and only resumed commercial service in May after Boeing installed a redesigned battery system on the 50 jets in service.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Aerospace & Defense
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Comments (1)
ronryegadfly wrote:
A low oil filter and an oil indicator. Seriously Reuters? Don’t these things happen pretty much every day with planes all around the world? Sound like ordinary maintenance issues. Give it a rest already.

Jun 20, 2013 10:31pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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