United Airlines 787-9 To London Diverts After Onboard Fire
Matthew Klint Posted onFebruary 4, 2025




a person standing in a row of seats

A United Airlines 787 Dreamliner en route to London diverted to Chicago after an entertainment unit caught fire, sparking swift action from flight attendants to extinguish the flames.

United Airlines 787-9 Diverts To Due To Entertainment System Fire
The incident occurred on Saturday, February 1, 2025 on a Denver (DEN) to London (LHR) flight operated by a Boeing 787-9. For reasons that are not clear, an in-flight entertainment system in business class “popped,” began to smoke, then burst into flames.

One passenger who witnessed the scene onboard shared on reddit:

Flight attendants were literally pouring water bottles on it for several minutes…The pilot immediately announced we were being diverted. We were in Chicago for a few hours before continuing on our way. It was pretty scary.

Another passenger on the flight shed further light on what occurred:

The seat was 12B, and I was right next to it. The person in 12B heard a pop, and their entertainment system went down. The flight attendants tore the seat apart to find the fire, which smoldered a bit before really flaring.

…They dumped ALL of the extinguishers, which is why they also dumped water.

Flight attendants were fantastic and wrote a wonderfully kind note to 12B, thanking them for alerting them and saving hundreds of lives.

While saving hundreds of lives may be a stretch, a similar fire onboard the ill-fated Swissair 111 in 1998 killed all 215 passengers and 14 crew members on board the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 after flames spread to the aircraft’s flammable insulation.

The flight diverted to Chicago and was on the ground for a few hours before resuming to London.

Per the FAA:

United Airlines Flight 27 landed safely at Chicago O’Hare International Airport around 8:35 p.m. local time on Saturday, Feb. 1, after the crew reported smoke in the cabin. The Boeing 787 departed from Denver International Airport and was headed to London Heathrow Airport. The FAA will investigate.

https://liveandletsfly.com/uni...airlines-787-9-fire/

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