'Possible mechanical issue': United Airlines flight from Sarasota to Chicago diverted
A United Airlines flight from Sarasota to Chicago was diverted to the Tampa International Airport Wednesday as "a precaution to address a possible mechanical issue," the airlines said Friday.
Flight 2434, an Airbus A319, took off from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport around 3:42 p.m. on Wednesday, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware, and was diverted to Tampa International Airport, where it landed safely less than an hour later at 4:35 p.m. The flight then re-departed the airport at 6:11 p.m. after a "possible mechanical issue" was addressed, the airline said. The flight arrived at Chicago O'Hare International Airport at 7:56 p.m.
According to United, there were 123 passengers and five crew members on the flight.
While United did not specify what the "possible mechanical issue" was, a spokesperson for the Tampa airport told Paste BN that in the initial call, emergency dispatchers were notified that the plane was being diverted because a door indicator light turned on. Fire crews arrived at the scene as the plane landed at the airport.
Airbus declined to comment on the incident.
The incident comes just days after the airline announced that it has temporarily grounded select Boeing 737 Max 9 jets as they undergo inspection by the Federal Aviation Administration causing significant flight cancellations and delays.
The FAA grounded all Max 9 airplanes with plug doors after a door plug malfunction blew a hole in an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet during a flight on Jan. 5.
Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the only two U.S.-based operators of the Max 9, have reported defects in some of their preliminary fleet inspections.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.