The United Airlines Boeing 787-9 en route from Los Angeles, California to London was diverted to Chicago on September 26, 2024 due to a technical issue.

United Airlines Flight UA231, a Boeing 787-9 from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), was en route to London via Hudson Bay when the problem was reported.

United Airlines UA231 Los Angeles-London

According to the Transportation Board of Canada (TSB), the flight crew reported that the captain’s primary flight display (PFD) and navigation display (ND) were blank.

Related to the flight deck display problem, the aircraft’s flight management computers entered a shutdown mode with limited capabilities. This made lateral navigation impossible while flight heading and flight tracking modes remained available.

From the cruise flight, the flight crew decided to divert to Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD) as a precaution. A flight path adjustment to the south was then carried out.

Aided by ATC vectors, the aircraft was able to land on runway 10C Chicago O’Hare without further incident. Landing at the diversion airport occurred approximately 2 hours after the diversion.

Flight details

Flight data shows that flight UA231 departed from Los Angeles International Airport. The departure time was recorded as September 26th at 1:28 p.m. local time. The flight initially went normally. The flight crew set course and climbed to flight level FL350 (35,000 feet) for the transatlantic flight to London.

The diversion to Chicago was made from cruising altitude while crossing Hudson Bay in Canada.

The aircraft operating the UA231 service to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was a Boeing 787-9 with registration number N27958. This is a 9.1-year-old wide-body aircraft owned by United Airlines. It has been in use at the airline since it was first delivered from the factory in September 2015.

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