WASHINGTON (TMX) – Nearly 40 people were injured when a Boeing 787-800 plane suddenly lost altitude during a United Airlines flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Washington, D.C., early Friday, officials said.
United Airlines Flight 613 departed Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos shortly before midnight on Thursday. About 93 minutes later, a sudden descent sent baggage, belongings, trays of food and other items flying around the cabin, according to video shared on social media.
There were 245 passengers and 11 crew on board, according to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. After returning to Lagos and landing safely at around 3:22 a.m. Friday, four passengers and two crew members were hospitalized with serious injuries and later released. Another 27 passengers and five crew members reported minor injuries.
United Airlines said the aircraft returned to Lagos to “address a technical issue.” The airline said the sudden descent was not caused by turbulence, and that it is “working with aviation authorities in the U.S. and Nigeria to understand the cause.”
According to data available on FlightRadar, the same aircraft was diverted Tuesday during a flight from Lagos to Washington, D.C., after rapidly dropping some 1,000 feet about 89 minutes into the flight.
The Boeing 787 was the subject of a Federal Aviation Administration review following another rapid midflight descent on a Latam Airlines flight in March 2024. In that case, investigators determined a pilot’s seat moved forward into the aircraft’s control column, causing its nose to drop.
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