Six injured: Returns to airport after in-flight disturbance

Four passengers and two flight attendants get injured after an incident with United Airlines who was on the way to Washington in USA to Lagos in Nigeria.

Caption: The Boeing 787-8, registered as N27903 and built in 2012, safely returned to Lagos after an incident. Four passengers and two flight attendants get injured, Additional 27 passengers and five crew members had minor injuries.. The aircraft sustained no damage. Photo: Oliver Holzbauer, Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

On January 24, 2025, United Airlines flight UA613, operated by a Boeing 787-8, experienced an unexpected in-flight disturbance while en route to Washington, forcing it to return to Murtala Muhammed International Airport

in Lagos, Nigeria. Ther aircraft landed safely at the airport 3.22 am.

A United Airlines Boeing 787-8, flight UA613, en route from Lagos to Washington Dulles, experienced an unexpected loss of altitude over Ivory Coast on January 23, 2025, while carrying 245 passengers and 11 crew. Screenshot: flightradar24.com

Six injured - sent to hospital

The incident resulted in injuries to four passengers and two flight attendants, all of whom were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. Additional 27 passengers and five crew members had minor injuries. The aircraft, carrying 245 passengers, eight flight attendants, and three pilots, landed safely in Lagos, and the injured were released after treatment.

Passengers who were unharmed were provided with hotel accommodations. The aircraft did not sustain significant damage.

Director Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs Obiageli Orah, reports that hose with minor injuries received first aid and were discharged immediately, while those with serious injuries were stabilised and transferred to the Duchess Hospital in Ikeja. Daily Post reports this.

United Airlines is working with U.S. and Nigerian aviation authorities to investigate the cause.

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Two similar incident with Boeing 787

Flight Global reports that this event recalls a similar incident involving a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9, where an unintentional loss of altitude was caused by a forward shift in the captain's seat. Investigators determined that the disturbance was linked to this movement.

In another case, according to Dimsum Daily a 787 traveling from Sydney to Auckland experienced a technical issue that injured 50 passengers, partly due to a flight attendant inadvertently activating a seat control switch that moved the pilot’s seat forward.