A United Airlines flight declared a “Mayday” alert shortly after taking off from Washington DC.
The Boeing Dreamliner suffered an engine failure shortly after getting off the ground.
United flight 108 had departed Washington Dulles International Airport for Munich
It was carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members.
As it reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, an engine cut out.
“Failure, engine failure, left engine, United 108,” pilots told air traffic controllers. “Declaring an emergency,” according to an ATC recording
“Mayday, mayday, mayday.”
The aircraft was held in the air for about 30 minutes to dump fuel.
It then landed safely at the airport and was towed to the gate where all passengers deplaned as normal.
United said it suffered a ‘mechanical issue.’
“United flight 108 to Munich returned to Washington Dulles shortly after takeoff to address a mechanical issue,” a spokesperson said.
