United flight to SF from Canada makes emergency landing in Sacramento after electrical issue
An United Airlines international flight made an emergency landing Wednesday at Sacramento International Airport after pilots smelled a smoky, electrical scent wafting from the cockpit, according to an airport spokeswoman.
The plane — United Flight 1449 — left Vancouver, British Columbia, on time and was headed to San Francisco International Airport, according to FlightAware, an online plane tracking system. About 9 a.m., the crew reported the problem and diverted to Sacramento International Airport.
The 179 passengers deplaned the Boeing 737-900 and were expected to be connected to another flight to SFO, a United spokesperson said.
There were no reports of injuries.
Lindsay Myers, a spokeswoman for the county’s airport system, said units with the airport’s fire department responded to the incident and were released.
On Monday, a separate United flight made an emergency landing at Sacramento International Airport after two flight crew members came down with an illness, according to archived audio dispatch calls reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
A United spokeswoman said one flight crew member went to the hospital after feeling unwell.
United jets have had multiple issues at U.S. airports this year, including several high-profile incidents at San Francisco, its West Coast hub.
In March, a United Airlines flight bound for Mexico City from San Francisco made an emergency landing in Los Angeles after the crew reported a hydraulics issue. Days before a United plane rolled off a runway and got stuck in grass in Houston, according to the Bay Area News Group. Less than a week later, a United flight headed to Osaka from SFO lost its wheel as the plane was taking off, crushing a car parked in the airport’s employee lot.
On March 7, littered bubble wrap on the tarmac was sucked into a Houston-departing United plane’s engine, causing it to burst into flames midair and forcing an emergency landing. That same day, while heading from Honolulu to SFO, a United jet’s engine failed mid-flight over the Pacific Ocean.
In April, a United flight from Sacramento to Denver was diverted to SFO because of a possible “mechanical issue.”
No injuries were reported in any of the recent incidents.
United, the world’s third-largest airline by revenue, mostly flies aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Airbus. After the spat of incidents in March, company CEO Scott Kirby said in an email to customers that the incidents were unrelated and “reminders of the importance of safety,” according to The New York Times.
