A United Airlines flight from Newark to Cape Town, South Africa returned to New Jersey Sunday after eight hours in the air following an on-board medical emergency, reports say.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took off from Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday night only to return early Monday morning. The airline typically has one direct flight (Flight 1122) between the cities per day, which is over 14 hours and covers more than 8,000 miles. The nonstop route is one of United’s longest.
Sunday’s flight took off just after 8:30 p.m. with 236 passengers and 14 crew members. According to FlightAware, the plane turned around over the Atlantic Ocean after about 4 hours to head back to the U.S., landing just after 5 a.m.
The plane was met by medical personnel back in Newark and the passenger was treated on the ground, the airline said. Passengers were put on another flight and will try to fly out again Monday evening. Details about the passenger’s medical emergency were not released.
A United flight on the same route was forced to turn around in August after losing part of a wing.
The incident comes during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year and amid general air travel chaos in the U.S. The FAA is bracing for this year to be the busiest Thanksgiving in terms of flights in at least 15 years. U.S. airlines are predicted to fly a record 31 million passengers from Friday, Nov. 21, through Monday, Dec. 1, according to Airlines for America.
