Engine Issues Force Diversion of Filed OGG-ORD Flight

A United Airlines (UAL) 787 Dreamliner bound from Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) diverted to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) after experiencing as-of-yet unspecified engine issues.

The 787, operating as United Airlines Flight 348, departed OGG on Saturday, 20 May 2023 at 19:34 Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (GMT -10). Two-and-one-half hours into the approximately eight-hour journey, while cruising eastbound over the Pacific Ocean at FL390, abnormalities with one of the aircraft’s two General Electric GEnx engines compelled the Dreamliner’s pilots to shut down the affected powerplant, descend the airliner to FL270, and divert the flight to SFO—a distance of some 940-nautical-miles.

Upon UAL-348’s safe arrival at SFO, passengers were rebooked onto other ORD-bound United Airlines aircraft—a relatively simple undertaking insomuch as UAL operates approximately 12 daily flights between the two airports. Drama and delay notwithstanding, the entirety of UAL Flight 348’s passengers reached the Windy City.

Following five-days of maintenance, the afflicted 787 returned to service on 25 May, departing SFO and proceeding without incident to Washington Dulles (IAD) as United Airlines Flight 2825.

Delivered to UAL in October 2012, the incident aircraft, a Boeing 787-8, registration N26906, is United Airlines' second-oldest Dreamliner. United operates the jet primarily out of ORD and IAD, often on long-haul routes the likes of IAD-LOS (Lagos, Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport), and ORD-TLV (Tel Aviv, Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport).

The average airframe age of United’s 12 787-8 aircraft is ten-years. Conversely, the air-carrier’s 787-9 fleet averages just under six-years, and its 787-10 fleet averages a youthful three-years.

FMI: www.united.com