Six people injured in mid-air jolt that forced DC-bound United plane to make emergency landing in Nigeria

By Pete Muntean, Eve Brennan, Avery Schmitz, Kaila Nichols and Alexandra Skores

Four passengers and two crewmembers were hurt on Friday when a United Airlines flight from Lagos, Nigeria to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia made a sudden in-flight movement, according to United Airlines.
Video taken by passengers shows chaos on board, with trays, food and other objects strewn across the flight’s floor.

Flight 613 made an emergency landing back in Lagos where the six injured people on board were taken to a nearby hospital, the airline said. They have all since been released, United Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott said

It is unclear what caused the in-flight jolt; United Airlines has said the cause was not severe turbulence, and that it is “working with aviation authorities in the US and Nigeria to understand the cause.”

Flight data accessed from FlightRadar24 shows Flight 613 descending abruptly from cruising altitude approximately 93 minutes after takeoff.

The same aircraft, flying from Lagos to Washington’s Dulles International Airport had previously been diverted on Tuesday, according to FlightRadar. Altitude data from that flight showed a rapid descent of 1,000 feet about 89 minutes into the flight. It is unclear whether the diversions of UA613 are related.

Friday’s flight was carrying 245 passengers, eight flight attendants and three pilots, according to United, which said it is currently working to place passengers on other flights.

Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Michael Achimugu confirmed the incident, per state-run Radio Nigeria, emphasizing there were no fatalities. He said passengers had been accommodated in hotels, Radio Nigeria also reported.

Friday’s incident involved a Boeing 787, which was subject to review by the Federal Aviation Administration following a mid-air dive of a Latam Airlines flight last March. In that previous incident, investigators found a pilot’s seat on the flight had lurched forward and into the plane’s control column, causing the plane’s nose to drop.

Days after the Latam Airlines incident, Boeing sent an advisory to airlines that operate the Boeing 787 recommending they inspect cockpit seat switches on the planes.

— CNN