A United Airlines Boeing 757-200 had to make two emergency diversions in the space of just a few days after suffering two separate engine problems. The aircraft is now stranded in Shannon, Ireland.
Aircraft details
- Boeing 757-200
- Registration: N17133
- First flight: 1998 (age: 26 years)
- Engines: 2x Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan engines
The tale of woe began on September 17, just a short time after United Airlines flight UA-711 departed Dublin, Ireland, for what should have been a routine transatlantic flight to Washington Dulles.
The 26-year-old aircraft climbed to its cruising altitude of 36,000 feet as it departed the west coast of Ireland, but the plane didn’t get very far before the pilots made a sudden U-turn and headed back to Dublin.
The pilots reported an unspecified engine problem and landed safely back in the Irish capital, where the passengers had to rebook onto alternative flights while the plane was grounded for maintenance on the engine to be carried out.
Two days later, on September 19, and presumably after the engine had been given the all-clear, United decided to fly the plane to Newark for it to pick up its schedule the following day.
On this occasion, there were no passengers on board, as United was only positioning the plane out of sequence. That decision proved to be quite fortunate, as, yet again, the plane climbed to 36,000 feet and then suddenly turned back to Ireland with the pilots reporting that the left-hand engine was ‘degraded.’
The aircraft landed in Shannon, where it has remained ever since, although according to the flight tracking website Flight Radar 24, there are plans to try to fly the plane back to Newark on Sunday. Again, this will be a positioning flight with no passengers onboard.
Given the age of the aircraft, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it had been involved in the occasional mishap, but this plane has had a remarkably boring life with no major incidents or accidents ever reported.
Given that United flight UA-711 was forced to divert due to a mechanical issue, the passengers would likely be entitled to €600 compensation under the European Union’s famed EC-261 passenger rights rules if they arrived at their final destination by three hours or more later than scheduled.
The 757 remains a popular aircraft with airlines
Despite the fact that Boeing discontinued production of the 757 in 2004, the now rapidly ageing aircraft remains popular with airlines that still have them in their fleets due to its performance within an efficient single-aisle frame.
In fact, the 757 is often referred to by aviation enthusiasts as the ‘Flying Pencil’ because the 757-300 was the longest single-aisle commercial passenger jet ever manufactured.
Of the more than 1,000 Boeing 757s that were built over the course of its 23 production timeline, just 55 of the stretch 757-300s were ever built due to limited demand from airlines.
As well as being used by airlines like Delta and United, the US military also uses a special VIP version of the Boeing 757 used to transport high-ranking dignitaries. This modified version of the 757 is known as the C-32.
