A Boeing 787-900 of US airline United Airlines has landed in New Caledonia unscheduled. According to the news agency AFP, the Dreamliner was redirected on a long-haul flight from Australia to the United States to the Pacific Islands belonging to France. On board were therefore 256 passengers.
According to the local newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, at around 4:20 pm local time, the plane landed at New Caledonia's international capital, Nouméa, on the main island of Grande Terre. Reason was according to an employee of the operating company of the airport apparently that smoke came from the cockpit. The newspaper reported that the oxygen masks had dropped in the plane.
The passengers would have left the machine after landing, however, "in peace". A radio station reported that all passengers are doing well. But you would have to spend the night in Nouméa, because the plane is technically examined.
On Twitter, a passenger thanked the pilot and crew for the "calm and professional" behavior and posted a picture of the long-haul aircraft. New Caledonia is located about 2700 kilometers northeast of Melbourne in the South Pacific.
For a calm and professional emergency diversion @united - pic.twitter.com/Fa8kSRqa0P. Do not expect to end our trip to New Caledonia
- Nathan Lanier (@treehousenate) March 25, 2019Boeing is after two aircraft accidents with the model 737 MAX 8 massively in the criticism. On March 10, a 737 MAX 8 of the Ethiopian Airlines had crashed shortly after the start in Addis Ababa, in October a lion-air engine of the same type crashed off the Indonesian island of Java. Overall, nearly 350 people died in both crashes. The crashes showed similarities, which is why the entire 737-MAX fleet is no longer allowed to fly.