Spokane7
61°
December 22, 2011 in City
Hydraulic leak prompts United flight to land in Spokane
A United Airlines flight made an unscheduled stop in Spokane due to a hydraulic fluid leak Wednesday night, leaving the 157 passengers bound for Portland to spend the night here.
Flight 959 from Chicago, which flew from London in the previous stage, first landed at Spokane International Airport around 10:30 p.m. to refuel. That was an unscheduled stop, airport spokesman Todd Woodard said.
The Boeing 757 then departed at 11 p.m., and shortly after takeoff the pilot detected the leak, Woodard said. The plane returned to the Spokane airport at 11:30 p.m., with an emergency response on the ground requested by the pilot as a precaution.
The passengers got off the plane as United inspected the leak and arranged for another flight. A second plane was to be flown in from San Francisco to complete the trip around 3:45 a.m., but that was canceled, Woodard said.
The 157 passengers now are scheduled to depart Spokane at 11:30 a.m. today to complete the trip to Portland.
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Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on December 22 at 8:03 a.m.
Before anyone complains about this not being news: I’d rather read about this than about a crashed plane.
Crusty1 on December 22 at 9:02 a.m.
True!!
onetimeuser on December 22 at 9:22 a.m.
I wonder why they made an unscheduled stop to refuel? That is unusual for a flight of that length. Chicago to Portland. No one makes stops to refuel anymore. Glad everything worked out though.
terrymr on December 22 at 9:29 a.m.
Airlines love to dispatch aircraft with the bare minimum fuel - any delay or unexpected headwind can lead to a shortage.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on December 22 at 12:01 p.m.
Sounds like someone didn’t do their job in Chicago to fill the plane up with fuel. I just flew to Chicago from Seattle on Sunday and thankfully the ground crew in Seattle knew how much fuel to put in the airline I was on and we didn’t end up landing in Madison, WIsconsin before finishing off the trip.
de3 on December 22 at 7:59 p.m.
The plane was diverted to Spokane because of weather in Portland. Guessing they had flown part way to Portland before being diverted back to Spokane. While here, they then needed to refuel. Passengers were taken to local hotels and put up by United.
The Oregonian has the full story http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/passengers_arriving_in_pdx_tod.html