Transportation

United Airlines flight makes emergency landing in LA due to hydraulics issue

A United airlines plane flies on Monday, February 9, 2024 (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A United Airlines plane headed to Mexico City had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles Friday, after the crew reported a hydraulics issue. 

The Airbus A320 jetliner — flying from San Francisco to Mexico — landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) around 4:30 p.m. local time Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  

The United Flight 821 carrying 105 passengers and five crew members was diverted to Los Angeles after an issue with the aircraft’s hydraulic system, according to United Airlines’ statement to The Hill. 

No injuries were reported and passengers were deplaned “normally” at the LAX gate. The passengers traveled to Mexico City on another aircraft, per United Airlines’ statement. 

The Airbus 320 type has three hydraulic systems for redundancy purposes, but the issues occurred on only one system, according to the airline.


The FAA will investigate the incident, which marks the fourth emergency landing of a United Airlines flight this week.

The most recent event comes just hours after passengers of a separate United Airlines flight were forced to evacuate after a Boeing 737 in Houston rolled onto the grass when exiting onto the taxiway, according to the FAA. The plane was traveling from Memphis.

All passengers on that flight were also safely deplaned, per the airline.

In another incident, a United Airlines plane flying to Japan Thursday lost a tire during take-off from the San Francisco airport and had to divert to Los Angeles. No injuries were reported among the 167 passengers, but the tire debris damaged a car upon crashing into the employee parking lot and many shared videos showing flames shooting from the engine, per The Associated Press.

The news comes as the air line industry and manufacturers, like Boeing, have faced increased scrutiny over a slew of incidents that have led to multiple lawsuits.